


Vessel of the Goddess

by RedHarryWhoLocked



Category: A Discovery of Witches (TV), All Souls Trilogy - Deborah Harkness
Genre: F/M, The Book of Life spoilers, season/ series 03 spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-31
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-17 13:42:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 29,709
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29101221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedHarryWhoLocked/pseuds/RedHarryWhoLocked
Summary: The Goddess isn't done with Diana just yet.
Relationships: Diana Bishop/Matthew Clairmont
Comments: 49
Kudos: 128





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Just a heads up - there will be spoilers for season/ series 3 of "A Discovery of Witches" which will follow book 3 of the All Souls Trilogy. I also will probably mix book canon and tv canon into my own pile of ADOW goo. My bad. Also, I don't know these people. Owning people is bad.

The wooded hills around Sept-Tours sped below me as the temple ruins dedicated to the goddess came into view. My bare feet didn’t alight upon the ground until I was in front of the alter. The night sky was pierced by a shaft of light. My eyes followed its trail and finally came to rest on the white stag that had visited us when Matthew and I were at Sept-Tours in the 16th century and his father Philippe had asked the goddess for her blessings.

“Daughter,” the voice of the goddess resounded in my head as the stag stared at me and I stared back. “I am proud of the witch you have become.”

I was too awed to respond which was probably a good thing as I was already sensing a “but.”

“You have come into your own and yet your duties are far from complete.”

I took a hesitant step away from the stag, my eyes widening with horror. “I don’t understand.” My mind flashed back to my time in Chelm – draining the life from Peter Knox, shooting Benjamin Fox with the goddess’ own arrow of justice, all to save my husband.

“Remember our agreement, daughter. A life for a life. I am not done with yours yet.”

The beam of light suddenly shifted like stage lighting until I was the focus of the spotlight. The beam’s warmth kissed my skin then grew steadily warmer and warmer.

Until I was _burning_.

~~~

I woke with a start, gasping as my body quickly cooled as I lay in bed. I was sweating and knew that if I were to look in a mirror, I would be gleaming – and not the witchy kind. I turned to look at the clock on my bedside table at the same time the alarm began to go off.

I groaned, running a hand through my hair as I sat up, trying desperately to push the dream out of my mind to be dealt with later when I didn’t have myself and two toddlers to get ready for the day.

Rolling out of bed, I squirrelled into an All Souls College sweatshirt that I was certain Matthew had never actually worn but which had become a favorite of mine for combating the house’s morning chill. Yawning, I made my way downstairs and into the kitchen where I was immediately bombarded with my daughter’s squeals of greeting and a slice of toast to the face.

“Thank you, Philip. That’s exactly what I wanted for breakfast.” I said sweetly as I picked the toast up from where it’d fallen on the floor and walked over to kiss my son on the forehead as he grinned up at me.

“Mama toast,” he murmured sleepily. Like me, it took him a while to warm up to the day.

“Yes baby, but next time, please hand it to me. Don’t float it.” I cooed, taking a bite out of the – admittedly very dry – piece of toast. As an exhausted mother of twins, I get to call the five second rule if I want to. I leaned down and blew a raspberry on Becca’s cheek, causing her to shriek louder.

“Mama!” She squealed, throwing her hands up in the air, her sippy cup of half and half – half milk, half blood – only still in her hands thanks to the sticky nature of the peanut butter she was also eating.

“Good morning, love. Have you succeeded in waking the neighbors?” I teased, finally bothering to look around the room. Matthew stood against the counter next to the stove, his lips tilted in a small smile. I walked over to stand in front of him and wrapped my arms around his shoulders as his encircled my waist.

“Good morning, mon coeur,” he whispered on my lips.

“Mmm, what time did they get up this morning?” I asked, reluctantly leaving his embrace as the siren’s call became too strong. When I noticed that Matthew had already started the electric kettle, I threw him a grateful glance.

“Becca and I have been up for an hour. Philip has been up a little less than twenty minutes.” Matthew murmured as he watched me make my tea and I merely nodded in response. It seemed as though every day, the twins showed more and more which of us they took after.

“Where’s Apollo?” I asked after Philip’s familiar. We’d given up on keeping the creature contained in the pantry. For one thing, he has an odd love for canned beans which no one appreciates. For another, between his wily nature and my son’s magic, he never stayed in there long anyway.

“Right here, mum.” I turned to throw a smile at the sound of Jack’s voice and giggled at the sight of him with a toddler-sized griffin on his shoulder. I knew from experience that Apollo was deceivingly heavy yet Jack didn’t struggle under the weight at all.

“Good morning, Jack.” I greeted at the same time the twins both yelled their older brother’s name.

Apollo took off from Jack’s shoulder, flapping his wings just once, enough to glide over to me and settle in my arms. It was our usual morning routine. Apollo always came to either me or Matthew as he knew that he wasn’t allowed to sit with the twins while they ate. Ysabeau was a firm believer in table manners and I quickly grew to appreciate the lack of peanut butter in griffin feathers. He and I hadn’t gotten along well at first – mostly because I was terrified of what my son having a familiar meant. I was still coming to terms with my own powers. I couldn’t bear the thought of my son being a weaver as well. We warmed to each other eventually. After all, Apollo is Diana’s twin.

And just like that, the dream resurfaced in my thoughts. A cold sweat began between my shoulder blades and spread throughout my body at the memory of burning. I bit my lip, trying to maintain my composure as I stroked my fingers along Apollo’s fur covered back.

“You alright, mum?” Jack asked, concern wrinkling his beautiful face which thankfully never grew out of the adorable roundness of when he was a little boy in Elizabethan England.

I gave him a tight lipped smile. “Yea, I’m fine.” I dared a glance at Matthew and he gave me a side eye, his brow ticked up in question as he wiped food stuffs from Philip and Rebecca’s faces. “Just a weird dream I had.”

After another moment of staring at me, in which I grabbed another piece of toast and started spreading butter on it to make my hands busy, Matthew turned his attention to Jack.

“Sarah should be arriving this afternoon, Jack.” Matthew stated. Though we all knew that Sarah was supposed to arrive in New Haven today, it was frankly still a little up in the air as to what time just by virtue of it being my aunt and she’ll wake up and get ready when she damn well pleases.

“I’ve got a light load today – just overseeing an exam this morning and some office hours. I should be able to wrap up around 1.” I murmured around my toast. It was the end of the semester – two more days and we would all be packing up to spend the majority of our summer at our home in France, Les Revenants. Sarah would be going with us for a few weeks, splitting her time between Les Revenants and Sept-Tours. While I was ecstatic that my aunt had a new little clique with Marthe, Ysabeau, Agatha Wilson, and Fernando, it also terrified me a little. I often send a prayer to the goddess when the five of them get together under the same roof. I even saw Matthew make the sign of the cross at the sight of the five of them with their heads together.

“I have watched the twins before, guys.” Jack said with all the exasperation of a young son. He was technically forever twenty years old but at times it felt as though he was still making up for all the teenaged angst we missed out on by leaving him in the past.

Matthew fixed Jack with his firm gaze. “Yes, but never alone.” Which wasn’t a lie, we always tried to have a couple of the adults from our extended family tag teaming the children on a rotating basis. Bright born twins and a griffin was a lot to handle. Fernando would have been here with Jack today but he’d gone to pick up my aunt. She hated traveling without Em so he always went to pick her up for her visits and the two besties made a road trip out of the drive from Madison to New Haven. “And you’ve got that essay due on Friday. Have you finished your revising?”

Jack groaned and snatched up a piece of toast for the simple joy of tearing it into pieces. “I’m almost done.”

Goddess help us against undergraduate sons with all the angst of a teenaged vampire with blood rage. “The kids should nap around 11. Work on it then, alright?” I wheedled gently. “And then once Sarah arrives, she’ll monopolize all their attention so you can focus on it then. She’ll understand if you have to go up to your room for a bit. She’ll be with us for a few weeks.”

Jack glanced up at Matthew’s dad gaze then back at me, nodding his head as he stared at his pulverized piece of toast.

I smiled at him and rested a hand on his cheek. “Good, now clean up that toast that did absolutely nothing to you to deserve that treatment and get your siblings out of their high chairs.”

Jack snorted as the twins began rocking in their high chairs and making grabby hands at the prospect of freedom before doing as he was told. I went upstairs to get dressed for the day.

I didn’t need to feel the snowflakes on my back to know that Matthew was following me to our bedroom. Matthew was already dressed for his day in the lab with Chris and I knew my husband well enough to know that he wouldn’t be able to hold his concern in check for very long.

“What is wrong, Diana? You looked like you’d seen a ghost down there, mon coeur.” Matthew questioned as he sat on the bed, his voice a low, soothing hum.

I walked into our closet and snatched a blazer off its hanger violently enough to cause the hanger to hit the back of the closet and fall to the ground. “Nothing, like I said, it was just a dream.”

“Diana…” Matthew had this way of speaking sometimes when he was getting angry that on any other man would have been an annoyed grumble but for Matthew, it was too guttural and deep to be anything but a growl. I knew that when it came to me and his children though, his bark was worse than his bite.

I stalked out of our closet, my clothes in hand and tossed them on the bed. “Matthew, please.” I wasn’t sure what I was asking for, all I knew was that I needed to get to work and I couldn’t deal with this right now… whatever ‘this’ was. I lifted my sweatshirt over my head, taking the tank top I slept in with it and turned to throw them in the hamper in the corner. I hear Matthew gasp behind me.

I spun back around to face him. “What?”

Matthew got up from the bed and was in front of me within two quick strides, his long legs cutting through the distance. He grasped my shoulders and spun me.

“Oh Diana.” His voice was pained.

“What?” I questioned, my voice sharp.

In answer, Matthew led me by my shoulders into our bathroom and spun me so my back was facing the mirror. I strained to look over my shoulder, expecting to see the brand that Satu had seared between my shoulder blades. It was still there – but altered.

What had been a crescent moon and sun now included a bow and arrow. The bow was crossed with the moon, going in the opposite direction, like the two were a half finished venn diagram of scar tissue.

I stared in horror at the new addition to my back. I was getting tired of being magic’s vellum. “I don’t understand.” I murmured, echoing my earlier words, spoken in a dream.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No but seriously... so many spoilers. Also, I still don't own these people. Owning people is bad.

The addition to my branded back had looked like it was already weeks old and didn’t come with any of the soreness and pain I remembered from the days I spent healing after my time with Satu. Yet, I could feel the phantom echoes of pain, for the rest of the day. Thankfully my work day truly was a light load. I had just one last final exam to oversee in the morning and as expected, none of my students showed up during my office hours – after all, it was just a couple days until the semester ended.

Neither research or grading succeeded in taking my mind off my new scars or what they might mean. I wound up watching the clock, waiting until I could head home for the day, waiting for Sarah to arrive in New Haven. I had to sit on my hands more than once throughout the day until the urge to call her and speak to her _right now_ passed. Something told me that this was not a conversation to be had over the phone.

~~~

That morning, after the discovery of my updated brand, Matthew had stood behind me, kissing the tortured skin with reverence, his eyes staring into mine as we both kept our gazes on the mirror. His eyes burned with the questions he so desperately wanted to ask. Mine told him I didn’t have the answers – not yet.

“You, Jack and Apollo should go hunting this evening. Maybe Fernando will join you too.” I had murmured. I needed time to speak to my aunt alone but told myself I wasn’t being completely selfish. The three of them truly were due for a hunt.

Matthew merely nodded in acquiescence. I’d never been so appreciative of his constant battle against his baser possessive instincts. I knew how hard it was for him to let me handle this on my own.

~~~

I was out of my desk chair and grabbing my bag the moment the clock told me my office hours were over. Sarah had texted me a half hour ago to tell us she and Fernando would be at our home on the outskirts of New Haven in an hour.

Matthew was waiting in the lobby of my building when I exited the stairwell, ready to drive us both home. I gave him a tight lipped smile and perfunctory kiss in greeting. He took my hand as we walked to the car and I desperately held onto my favorite life line as I tried to remember to breathe. The closer that my reunion with Sarah got, the more my stomach turned to knots.

“Whatever it is, we’ll deal with it together, Diana. Just like always.” Matthew stated quietly once we’d entered the car and the notes of Bach began filtering through the car, helping to relax me further.

I nodded. “I guess I had just hoped we could go six months without a crisis.” Obviously this was too much to ask and the snort that came from the direction of the driver’s seat told me that Matthew agreed.

“Sarah knows more lore about the goddess than anyone I know – even Ysabeau.” Which was saying something since Ysabeau had been around when the gods still visited the Earth. Matthew kissed my hand as our hands were still clasped together, resting on the center console of the car, before continuing. “She’ll be able to help you decipher the dream.”

“I’m not sure there’s much to decipher.” And that’s what terrified me.

~~~

When we arrived home, the purple mini coop that Matthew had bought for Sarah was already in the drive, complete with bumper stickers extolling the superiority of Wiccans. I stared at the car for the moment it took for Matthew to make his way over to open the passenger door for me. Taking a deep breath, I placed my hand in his and let him help me out of the car.

We entered the house to the comforting sounds of the other adults in the house entertaining the children in the living room. As soon as we entered the room, the twins got up from the floor, abandoning their toys to toddle over and greet Matthew and I. I picked up Rebecca as Matthew swung Philip into his arms.

I tried to give them an enthusiastic greeting, to pretend that my thoughts weren’t a chaotic mess. But the way that Sarah stopped, midway to coming to greet me, her arms slowly lowering from where they’d been raised to envelop me in a hug, told me that I wasn’t very successful.

“What’s wrong?” She demanded, her gaze flitting between Matthew and I.

I had my lips pressed together so tightly I was sure they’d all but disappeared. Thankfully Matthew came to my rescue.

Matthew put Philip back on the ground to toddle back to his toys. “Jack, Fernando, why don’t we take Apollo on a hunt?” Matthew didn’t give them time to refuse as he was already on his way to the door in the kitchen which led to the woods behind our house.

Jack rose from where he had sat on the floor as Apollo scrabbled after Matthew, his claws clacking against the hardwood as he made his way excitedly outside at the prospect of a hunt. Fernando snorted at the sight of Apollo acting so puppy-ish as he walked passed me to follow Jack, kissing me on the cheek in silent greeting as he went.

~~~

“What’s going on, Diana?” I suppose I should be grateful that my aunt waited until we had sat down with our tea before starting the interrogation.

I looked over at the twins. At the sensation of my eyes on him, Philip looked over at me, his little lips pursed in a pout. Coming to a decision, he stood up on little legs. “Mama sad.” He told Becca who quickly stood with him and they both toddled over to me. I gave them a watery smile as I carefully set my tea down to help them onto the couch so that they could monopolize my lap. I drew more comfort from having my kids near me than any cup of tea could provide.

Kissing both kids as they settled in for a cuddle, I looked into my aunt’s concerned gaze. “I had a dream last night, about the goddess. And I woke with an addition to the …marks on my back.” I hesitated to say ‘brand’ in front of the twins even though I knew they had no idea what it was. “In the shape of a bow and arrow.”

Sarah reeled back in her seat, her lips making the faint whistle of an aborted attempt to blow on her tea to cool it. “Tell me exactly what happened in the dream.” She demanded.

So I did. I told her about being in the temple at Sept-Tours, looking away from her at the painful memories the location brought to mind of Em’s death reflected in her eyes. I told her about the stag and the conversation.

“’A life for a life’, that’s exactly what she said?” Sarah was pacing in front of the fireplace, making both myself and the twins anxious. Not knowing what to do with the emotion, the kids removed themselves from my lap and began throwing blocks at each other. Whether they were trying to play catch or just simply hit each other with them, I wasn’t sure.

“Yes. What does it mean, Sarah?” I picked up my rapidly cooling tea and took a sip, needing something to occupy my hands now that the kids had ditched me.

“Tell me more about what happened in Chelm. You were tight lipped about exactly how you … took care of Benjamin.” I appreciated that my aunt didn’t say ‘killed’ in front of my children.

I told her everything, about how I took Peter’s life and how I used the arrow that the goddess had given me to kill Benjamin.

“So you exacted the goddess’ justice against Benjamin and thought that you had met the requirements of your bargain with the goddess.” Sarah did that thing where her question sounds more like a statement.

I simply nodded as I circled the rim of my cup with my index finger.

“’A life for a life.’” She murmured again, her eyes widening in a mix of horror and realization.

“What does it mean?” I tried desperately to keep my voice even for Philip and Rebecca’s sake. Judging by the cherubic concerned faces, I didn’t succeed.

“The goddess wants you to be her vessel for justice and your husband’s life isn’t just any old human’s life. He’s immortal and you promised her your own in exchange for it. What do you think it means, Diana?”

The tears that had been threatening to fall, finally began to escape my lids as she forced me to face the truth I had been avoiding all day in the way that only Sarah can. With blunt honesty and a cauldron full of sass. “No.” I stood up, my tea cup falling from limp fingers as I ran out of the back door. Self-preservation told me to stay on the porch while three vampires and a griffin hunted in the woods beyond despite my desire to just run. Ignoring my aunt’s calls and trusting that she’ll take care of the twins, I did the next best thing to running. I flew.

I skimmed over the tree tops, maintaining a tight circle near the house and well out of the reach of any hunting vampires that may pick up my scent. I flew until I felt my energy start to wane and landed gently on the roof of our house.

Just as the sun was beginning to set, I heard Matthew call my name. Looking down, I saw him standing in the back yard alone. With a leap, he was on the porch roof, with a second he was beside me.

“Ma lionne,” his words were a plea to finally get answers.

I turned my head to meet his concerned eyes then immediately looked back down at my hands. As they always did when my emotions were raw, the various colors of the threads beneath my skin shone just below the surface. “I really messed up.” I murmured wetly before tipping over to bury my head in the crook of his shoulder. I began to cry in earnest as his arms came around me and I felt his lips press against my hair.

~~~

I couldn’t bear to have this conversation a second time in front of the kids. So, by unspoken agreement, nothing was said until we’d put them to bed. As soon as we came back down the stairs, Fernando placed glasses of wine in both of our hands and led us into the living room where Sarah sat on the sofa and Jack was finishing putting the kids’ toys away. Thank god for that boy. I sat on the love seat across from the sofa and glanced at Sarah in silent request.

She put her hands in the air, careful not to spill her cup of liquor. “It’s not my tale to tell.”

I was beginning to think Sarah was spending a bit too much time around vampires. “I had a dream last night.”

“A vision.” Sarah interrupted.

I gave her a fierce look before continuing. I told Matthew, Fernando, and Jack the details of the dream. “She said ‘Remember our agreement, daughter. A life for a life. I am not done with yours yet.’” By the time I finished, my voice was a hoarse whisper.

Matthew straightened from where he’d been slouched against the fireplace mantle, his fierce eyes passing between myself and Sarah.

“What more does she want from you?” He hissed, his knuckles white as they tightened dangerously around his wine glass. I knew his thoughts were back in Chelm, and my killing of his son, Benjamin.

“’A life for a life.’” Fernando murmured, his thoughts making the final connections.

“For all intents and purposes, Diana is a demi goddess. She’s the embodiment of the goddess’ justice.” My eyes closed, another tear escaping through my lashes as Sarah gave voice to the brutal reality in her usual brash manner. “Congratulations Matthew, there’s a very good chance that Diana will outlive you.”

The sound of Matthew’s wine glass shattering in his hand echoed in the silence.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: Spoilers for season/ series 3 of the show and books 3 & 4\. I don't own these people. Owning people is bad. Also, no, my posting schedule will not be nearly this prolific in the future. I just had these chapters outlined already and a free weekend.

We all stared as the wine began to seep into the hardwood.

“But… this is a good thing right?” Jack’s voice was a mixture of confusion at everyone else’s reactions and hope. “Mom won’t leave us like a warmblood would. She can-“

“Jack, leave us.” Matthew’s tone brooked no argument and told everyone that Jack wasn’t the only one he wanted gone. I watched as Fernando put a hand on Sarah’s shoulder and ushered her out of the room just as she was about to protest.

With a silent twist of my fingers, Matthew’s cup was whole and sitting on the fireplace mantle. With another twitch, the wine was back in the cup. A slight darkening of the wood where it was still damp was the only evidence it’d previously been a puddle on the floor. I don’t like using my magic for everyday things but something told me that Matthew wouldn’t appreciate me leaving the room to get a towel and broom.

While I did this, Matthew turned to face the fireplace, his hands braced on the mantle. I tried to resist fidgeting as I waited for him to speak. After minutes that extended for hours, I knew I wasn’t going to be able to wait out my vampire.

“Will you say something?” I pleaded, scooting to the edge of the sofa cushion as I set my own glass of wine on the table.

“What exactly am I to say, Diana?” His voice was tight and his words were clipped at the end like he refused to move his lips as he spoke.

“Something, anything!” I cried. “If you’re angry at me, if you hate the idea of eternity with me, just say it.”

Matthew spun around and was kneeling in front of me between two blinks, staring at me in horrified astonishment. “How you could ever think I would feel that way after everything we’ve been through- “

“Then what is it, Matthew?” I interrupted.

“Diana, I’ve had even less time to process this information than you have since you refused to tell me five minutes ago! Give me a moment. Dieu!” I bit my tongue from snapping angrily back as he leaned forward to rest his forehead against my chest, his arms wrapping around my waist – proof that he wasn’t actually angry at me. I resolved to give him the time he needed to make sense of the situation even though I had let to do so.

“I came to terms with your bargain with the goddess almost the moment I knew of it. How could I be angry that you did something I would have done if I were in your place?” Matthew paused, getting his thoughts in order. I remained silent as this was the first time I’d ever actually seen Matthew unable to give voice to whatever was going on in his head – refusing to speak of it, yes. But this unsurety was new. “I’m furious that it wasn’t an informed decision. Among vampires, it’s considered horribly improper to sire a vampire without informed consent – details on exactly what the change will entail.”

I nodded in understanding. I’d been there for the whole process of Phoebe’s transformation – the decision, the preparation that the whole family undertook, and the aftermath. I knew it wasn’t usually a decision taken lightly on either the sire’s or the new vampire’s part.

“For the goddess to take your bargain without making it explicitly clear – “

“I would have done it anyway.” I murmured, scratching my fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck as I kissed the crown of his dark hair. I was coming to terms with this truth as a said it.

Matthew’s arms tightened around my waist to pull me further to the edge of the cushion as he swept his head up to look at me. As the vein in his forehead began to throb, the irises of his eyes fading to black. “Even knowing that it meant you were to become the goddess’ assassin?” He hissed.

“Justice does not have to equal death, Matthew.” I argued, swallowing the bile that threatened to make itself known. I knew that all too often in our world, it did.

“Oh? Tell that to Benjamin, mon coeur.” Matthew purred darkly as he sat back on his heels, his hand combing angrily through his hair as he let go of me.

My eyes lit with fire. “Don’t you dare throw that back at me. It was different – it was personal! I wanted to kill him.” My chest heaved with the weight of those words. I stood up, ignoring Matthew’s growl of warning as I stomped out of the room. I desperately needed to cool off – literally and figuratively – before I accidentally lit something on fire. Phoebe would never forgive me if I torched one of the many antiques in our home. Just as I entered the hallway, Matthew’s phone rang.

“What is it, Marcus?” Matthew snapped. I paused, turning to look back into the living room. Marcus could be calling about a completely innocuous family matter, but more often than not in our household, family matters involved the Knights of Lazarus.

Matthew remained kneeling, his weight resting on his heels as he stared up at me while he listened to Marcus. The look of pure rage in his eyes made me very grateful that Matthew had hunted earlier that evening.

“Tell Nathaniel I want a full report – everything he knows.” Matthew didn’t give Marcus a chance to respond. He simply hung up, throwing his cell phone. Thankfully he had enough sense to aim it at the sofa.

I leaned against the archway, my arms crossed. My continued anger at Matthew gave me the patience I needed to wait Matthew out while he grappled with whatever that phone call had been about.

“Nathaniel has continued tracking Gerbert’s movements and his internet usage.” I already knew this. Nathaniel was a daemon and one of the knights of Lazarus. He was also a wizard at computers and his job was to keep an eye on threats to the family, including Gerbert.

“Gerbert is researching Bright Born children.” Matthew’s lips barely moved as he spoke, his upper lip was curled over his incisors. I watched as Matthew’s chest heaved with the strain to stay in control even as my own breath caught in my chest. Bright Borns were the children of a vampire with blood rage and a weaver. Our children were Bright Born. After several long moments, Matthew’s breath returned to normal.

“Janet Gowdie.” I murmured, my thoughts going immediately to one of the witches – and one of my closest allies – on the congregation. She was the great-granddaughter of Matthew’s son, Benjamin, and a weaver. While the congregation knew what she was and that she was unusually long-lived, Janet had remained tight lipped to all but myself about what being a Bright Born actually meant. “I should call her.” I fished my phone out of my pocket and held it limply.

Matthew shook his head. “Not yet. We don’t know what or how much he knows. I’ve asked for a full report.” He knew that I had heard his conversation, he was mostly just thinking out loud to force himself to think rationally. Matthew stood and as I watched him reach his full height, I noted that his hair now resembled something that Apollo would find comfortable.

“We knew this might happen.” I murmured. It was true. Gerbert had been an enemy of our family since he aided Satu in my abduction. Enemies always knew each other’s weaknesses. And our children were certainly our biggest weakness. The fact of the matter didn’t make it any less terrifying, however. “It could be purely curiosity.”

Matthew stared at me in disbelief. “Diana,” my name was a scoff at my own naivety.

“I know. Wishful thinking.” I murmured with a small sniffle. Matthew was immediately at my side, wrapping me in his arms at the first sign of waterworks. His cool skin was a balm and a safe haven. One which I gladly took advantage of and let myself fall apart. Matthew didn’t give me a chance to fall, I was in his arms being carried to the couch before my knees could finish buckling. I curled into a ball on his lap, my face hidden in his shoulder as I sobbed. We’d been in almost this exact position only hours earlier, on the roof.

“When it rains, it really fucking pours.” I spat angrily. Matthew’s arms tightened around me in silent agreement.

“You’re the one who can control witchwater. You should really look into that.” Even though I knew he was furious, he was trying to make me laugh. I snorted wetly. “Marcus will have the knights close rank, just in case. The house may be a bit more full than we’d originally planned this summer.”

My lips thinned as I nodded my head once in assent. We would be going to Les Revenants in two days. The house was more of a well-fortified chateau and wasn’t too far from Sept-Tours. I wasn’t overly worried about not having enough space for however many creatures were about to descend upon the French countryside.

“I won’t let anything happen to them, ma lionne.” Matthew’s promise came out in a fierce whisper. “I will tear the heart from Gerbert’s chest before he even gets close.”

“Get in line.” If I was a lioness, Rebecca and Philip were my cubs.

~~~

The to-do list for the next day was packing for myself and the rest of the household and Matthew was to spend a few hours in the lab wrapping things up with Chris before we left. I was determined to lose myself in the domesticity of the day for as long as I could.

“Did you finish that essay?” I asked Jack as he kept Rebecca company while I changed Philip.

“Yes mum.” He murmured, long suffering. “And I already submitted it.”

I patted Philip on the bum and swung him onto my hip as I finished and turned to walk out of the nursery. I leaned over and kissed Jack’s cheek as I passed him. “Thank you. I’m proud of you. I’m sure you’ve done well this semester.”

The left side of Jack’s mouth quirked up in an embarrassed smile as his face flushed. “Thanks mum.” He murmured as he followed me downstairs.

“Now, are you all packed?” I questioned, tightening my hold on Philip as Apollo glided down the stairway in front of us in anticipation of my son’s attempt to snatch his familiar out of the air.

“Almost.” I could feel Jack rolling his eyes behind me.

“Go finish up. Sarah and Fernando are going to distract the twins while I pack away some of their toys.” I knew the twins already had toys at Les Revenants and probably more that I didn’t know about which Marthe and Ysabeau had probably bought since our visit during Christmas break. I was determined to rein myself in and grab only their favorites.

~~~

Matthew arrived home earlier than expected from the lab, Chris trailing behind him. At the sound of their cars, I left our bedroom where I’d been folding my clothes – Matthew having already packed his last night while I slept – and headed downstairs to meet them in the foyer.

My feet had barely touched the final step when I was swept into a hug and fierce kiss from my husband.

“Yea, yea. No need to flaunt the fact that you’re married with two kids and still getting more action than anyone else in this house.” Chris groused.

I laughed, pulling away from Matthew to wrap Chris in a hug. “Hello, bestie.” I said teasingly. “You say that as if we don’t know about that date with Miriam last Friday.”

Chris ducked his head, suddenly finding his feet fascinating. “You heard about that, huh?”

Matthew snorted inelegantly. “Welcome to the family, Chris. No one’s love lives are safe from Ysabeau and Marthe.”

“Or me!” Sarah’s voice floated in from the living room. Philip and Rebecca’s voices immediately joined hers, for the simple joy of yelling.

“You staying for dinner, Chris? Fernando is making Paella.” I questioned.

“How could I possibly refuse that? He’s better in the kitchen than Marthe.” Chris enthused. “…Don’t tell her I said that.” 

~~~~

As we sat around the dinner table, the humans passed around the large platter of paella courtesy of Fernando, while the vampires enjoyed their own fare of nuts, berries, smoked salmon, and wine. Rebecca and Philip had a little bit of everything, minus the wine. In its place, their sippy cups were filled with their preferred ratios of grape juice and blood – tonight, it was guinea fowl.

Once everyone had their plates filled, conversation began to pop up around the table. It was a low murmur of multiple different conversations – punctuated with the shrieks and giggles of two toddlers – until Matthew drew Chris’ attention.

“Chris,” Matthew took a short sip of his wine. “I know you didn’t plan to, but would it be possible for you to see us off to the airport tomorrow?”

Conversation halted at that and Chris looked first at Matthew then at me. “I mean, sure. Do you need someone to bring your car back to the house?”

Matthew smiled tightly. “No, we may need you in your capacity as a knight.”

“Matthew…” I set my napkin down on the table. I had never envisioned Chris ever having to use his brawn when he became a part of the brotherhood when his brain was so much more useful to us. I hated the thought of Chris – my very human best friend – in danger because of us.

Chris sat up straight in his seat and nodded, his adam’s apple bobbing in his throat. “Uh, yea. I can do that. Are you going to tell us what this is about though?” Chris questioned as he looked around at the rest of the creatures sitting at the table, all looking at Matthew with anticipation.

I thread my fingers between Matthew’s in support. “Nathaniel has reported that Gerbert is researching about Bright Born children.” I noticed that Matthew purposely kept his gaze from the twins as he spoke. “Thus far, his research has led him to Chelm, Scotland, and interestingly enough, Israel though that one should be less of a surprise than it is.”

Apparently Matthew had already received the promised report. I looked from one concerned face to the other. “It’s just a precaution.” I tried to placate them as I gazed at Sarah’s watery eyes.

“Correct. There is, as yet, no indication that we are in any immediate danger.” Matthew agreed.

“Yet.” The word was growled from the other end of the table, where Jack sat beside Sarah. I looked at him as he shook with the struggle to maintain control and squeezed Matthew’s hand in my concern.

“Jack, mijo, why don’t we go outside?” Fernando asked, making to get up from his seat.

“No,” Jack shouted. “I’m fine.” Jack stared at the twins who both stared back silently, their little fists, covered in bits of rice and berries, frozen on their journey to their mouths. He gave them a tight little smile. “It looks like it’s bath time soon, huh guys?” He cooed, trying to show Rebecca and Philip that all was well.

Silence reigned as Jack took one breath, then another. As the black slowly faded from his eyes, the tension in my shoulders released. Jack chanced a glance at Matthew who returned it with a small nod and a proud smile. No one at that table knew how hard a vampire with blood rage had to fight to control their emotions when their family was threatened like Matthew did. That didn’t make me any less proud either though. I’d seen enough of Jack’s war to be proud of his win in this battle.

“Should I come to France with you as well?” Chris asked once it became obvious that the worst of the tension had gone and the twins started chattering to each other once more.

Matthew shook his head. “No, we should have ample protection once we land. Marcus will see to it. There’s no need to pull you away from your research.”

The phantom of Jack’s ‘yet’ echoed throughout the room.

~~~

Later that night we lay in bed, my head pillowed on Matthew’s shoulder as he traced the lines of my branded back. “It feels wrong, going to France knowing what we do now. Like we’re serving up our children on a platter.” I finally gave voice to my fear.

Matthew sat up to hover his torso above me, one hand coming to rest on my bare hip as he looked down at me, his gaze a fierce promise. “Once we’re on the continent, the knights will close rank around us. There will be an _army_ standing between Gerbert and the twins. They will be safe, I promise you.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: Spoilers for season/series 2(if you're in the US) & 3 and books 3 & 4.
> 
> Anything in italic is either a direct quote from the books or is formatted for emphasis. I don't own these people. Owning people is bad.
> 
> Also, I want to apologize for the last 3 chapters. I'm not totally happy with them. I'm going to try to do better from now on while also maintaining the pacing that I like.

I sat curled with my legs pulled up to my chest in one of the Adirondack chairs on our back porch, my mug of tea warming my hands as I rested it on my knee. One of Em’s old homemade cardigans kept the early morning chill away as I watched the sun begin to kiss the tree tops, making the leaves translucent as they swayed in the breeze.

I was trying to enjoy a quiet morning where I found myself awake before the rest of the house – a rare treat in a house of vampires and toddlers. Unfortunately, I was out on the porch at dawn because my brain wouldn’t let me rest. I’d given up on sleep and crept out of the bedroom I shared with my husband – careful not to disturb the first sleep he’d had in days – hours ago.

I took a sip of tea as my mind reached back to my time in 1590, to one of my last lessons with Goody Alsop. _“The tenth knot captures the power of eternity, a weaving of life and death. It is rather like your husband’s snake or the way Corra carries her tail in her mouth sometimes when it gets in her way.”_

The memories pulled me to the weeks after I had first met Matthew, our time at the Madison house when I was first attempting to learn about my powers. The house had just locked me out of the dining room after a contentious argument with Sarah. After the doors had slammed behind me, one of the many Bishop ghosts had floated towards me from the keeping room. _“Be careful, daughter. You are a creature of the crossroads, neither here nor there. ‘Tis a dangerous place to be.”_

As I sat worrying the tip of my thumb between my teeth, strong and cool arms wrapped around me from behind and a gentle kiss was planted on the top of my head.

“Good morning, darling.” Matthew murmured as his lips traveled down to my cheek, down to my mouth to continue his greeting.

“Morning.” I whispered, afraid to disturb the calm of the morning. As if the wind could carry my worries into the world as soon as I opened my mouth.

“What’s wrong?” Matthew crouched beside my chair, one arm still slung around my shoulders. “I woke and you weren’t there beside me. Very unlike you.” He teased.

Matthew sighed softly as I remained mute. “I could hear you worrying from our bedroom. Tell me, mon coeur.”

The first ray of sunlight to peak over the trees speared the center of my forehead with warmth. I closed my eyes and opened my senses. I hoped that I could lose myself in the sensory input from my witch’s eye. It didn’t work. Matthew’s presence beside me kept me grounded in the present. “This was inevitable, wasn’t it?”

After a moment of silence, I opened my eyes to gaze at my husband. His features were softened with sleep and concern. I didn’t need to elaborate on what _this_ was. It hadn’t been far from the forefront of either of our minds for the last few days – since I had my vision of the goddess.

In one swift movement, Matthew stood silently and picked me up in his arms, one arm behind my back and the other beneath my knees as he sat in the seat he’d just vacated me from and deposited me on his lap. I quickly adjusted to the new position, resting my head in the crook of his neck.

“I believe,” Matthew started, “that Philippe would say that there is no free will when the gods get involved.”

Last night, after we’d learned of Gerbert’s interest in Bright Born children, I had begun to feel as though my life was beginning to spin out of my control again just as things seemed to be settling into a rhythm. I now knew that my life was never in my control to begin with.

~!~!~

The children’s laughter carried into the dining room. As I’d left to make my call, Matthew had just become Philip’s steed as Jack became Rebecca’s. They were to have a race around the living room. Even as the phone rang, attempting to connect this dreaded call, I couldn’t stop a small smile at the sounds of my family.

“Hello?” The weathered Scottish brogue came down the line as the call connected. I sat down in the chair at the head of the dining table.

“Hi Janet, it’s Diana.”

“Hey girlie!” Janet greeted cheerily, her voice melting from that of an old crone to something more resembling her preternatural age. “How are you?”

I bit my lip. You can’t lie to a fellow witch and I didn’t want to try for the purpose of social niceties.

“I take it this isn’t a social call then. Is the congregation to meet?” Janet questioned at the sound of my silence.

“No.” I said abruptly. “Not yet anyway.” As the representative of the powerful de Clermont family, I was usually the one to formally call for meetings. If another member of the congregation wished to meet, they had to come to me to request it. “I wanted to warn you.”

It was Janet’s turn to be silent a moment. “About what, Diana?”

“Gerbert. He’s researching Bright Born children.” I paused. “He’s looking into your family.”

“Ah.” Janet’s voice betrayed her comfort with the seemingly inevitable. I placed asking her how she did it at the top of my to-do list. “I was wondering when he’d start. I figured he’d have begun looking into that months ago. I guess his troubles with that lover of his that he thinks no one knows about has kept him occupied.” Janet continued with a soft cackle.

“Aren’t you concerned?” I asked, my voice sharpened with astonishment.

“I can handle myself, as well you know Diana.” Janet stated tartly. “I’m more worried what this means for you and those babies.” Janet cut to the truth of the matter. She had a resistance to death that was only a step below a full vampire’s and the magical know-how that only a woman with centuries of time behind her could have. She could take care of herself. My children, on the other hand, were struggling with learning how to use a potty.

I heaved a breath that caused a loose strand of hair to float towards my forehead. “They’re obviously the reason why he’s looking into it.” I admitted.

“He’s learning what can be gleaned from history before he makes a move.” She said with a mildly offensive amount of alacrity.

“Yea.” I had to force the word from my suddenly tight throat.

Janet paused before speaking again. “Don’t hesitate to come to me, Diana. You and yours need only to ask it of me and mine, and we’ll be there.”

My throat wrapped around a sob. “Thank you.”

We hung up soon after that. Something flashed golden to my right and when I looked over, Apollo was sitting atop the dining table, his avian eyes honed in on me. We stared at each other for a long moment.

“If Matthew or I aren’t there, I need you to stay with them.” I told the intelligent creature. “There’s danger coming for them, Apollo. We have to be ready.”

Apollo continued to stare at me before lowering his head in a regal bow, his wings shifting against his leonine body. _We will be._ His response echoed in my skull.

~!~!~

The next couple of hours were a blur of corralling the family into the cars then the lines at the airport. I was still getting used to the wealth of the de Clermont’s but I couldn’t deny the usefulness when we traveled. With twins and a griffin who refused to masquerade as a Labrador for longer than it took to get through customs, a private plane was a godsend.

Once we were on the plane, the twins were quickly buckled into their seats. It was Rebecca’s turn to sit in the window seat and she already had her face smashed against the glass though we weren’t moving yet. Apollo sat, his mass spanning across both the twin’s car seats.

As the pilot’s voice came over the speakers, warning us that we would begin taxi-ing soon, the rest of us quickly began buckling ourselves in as well. Jack and I sat on one of the couches while Sarah and Fernando took the other. Matthew buckled himself into the seat at the large table that usually acted as Baldwin’s workspace – he got the most use out of this plane than anyone else in the family. Today, Matthew was working on something for the lab that he and Chris had talked about before saying farewell at the airport.

“Mama, juice?” Rebecca’s voice floated to me once we were in the air.

“Just a moment, sweetheart. We have to wait for the pilot to say it’s safe to get up.”

Rebecca finally looked away from the window, a little scowl on her face as she looked over to her diaper bag where her sippy cup sat in the outside pouch. “Mama, juice.” She demanded.

“Not yet, Becca.” I said with a long suffering sigh.

With a mimicry of my own sigh, Rebecca blinked. The space between her and the diaper bag lit with green threads which shimmered and danced. The sippy cup disappeared from the bag only to reappear in Rebecca’s hands. I watched as Becca popped the nipple of the cup into her mouth, a self-satisfied little smile on her face before she began to suck.

Matthew looked up from his work at the sound of my gasp. When he saw Rebecca with her sippy cup, he looked over at Philip in warning.

“Philip – “ Matthew and I both agreed that while we wanted Philip to learn to use his magic, we wouldn’t encourage him to use it just to get what he wanted. Magic had a time and a place and it wasn’t to be used in times when your arms and legs could get you what you wanted.

“It wasn’t Philip, Matthew.” I interrupted Matthew before he could continue, staring at our daughter in awe as she went back to watching the clouds pass by. I was the only one who could see the threads of the magic that Rebecca had just performed.

“What?” Matthew questioned shakily at the same moment that Sarah gasped. Jack and Fernando was looking between me and the twins though both chose to remain silent – for now.

Previously, Philip had been the only one to show any magical aptitude. He was a weaver, with the familiar to prove it. We had begun to think that Rebecca may take more fully after Matthew, being more vampire than warmblood with her love of blood as sustenance. And prior to this, she’d never displayed any magical ability.

“Well… that’s new.” Sarah got to the heart of the matter in the succinct way that only she possessed.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: Spoilers for season/series 2(if you're in the US) & 3 and books 3 & 4\.   
> I don't own these people. Owning people is bad.

We were all beyond exhausted. Rebecca was in my arms and Philip was in Matthew’s, their little bodies limp with sleep as we exited the plane and walked down the short set of stairs that deposited us on the tarmac of the runway specifically for the use of private planes at the airport in Lyon. We planned to stay in Lyon for the night, give everyone – especially the twins – a chance to rest properly. I looked towards the nearby hangar and was greeted with the sight of Gallowglass standing just outside the hangar, his arms crossed in front of him and his usually joyful face now looking as if it were cut by stone. I immediately knew something was wrong.

Just as I was about to greet him, my phone began to ring. Cursing myself for not putting it on silent, I hurriedly fished it out of my back pocket as I balanced Rebecca in my other arm and prayed that she didn’t wake up. Looking at the caller ID, I sighed before pressing the green button to answer.

“Baldwin.” I greeted, my voice resigned.

“You must come to Sept Tours immediately.” Apparently we didn’t even have time for the semblance of niceties.

“One, the children are exhausted. I’m exhausted, Baldwin,” I sighed, “We need to rest before we drive to Sept Tours. We’ve already booked hotel rooms.” Though it was only a two hour drive to Sept Tours and our nearby home, Les Revenants, Matthew and I hated to put the twins through that on top of such a long flight. “Two, we’re going to Les Revenants. We’ll visit with Ysabeau tomorrow evening.” We’d already made plans with Ysabeau and Marthe days ago.

No sound came from the other end of the line for a long moment. “Les Revenants is being watched.” Baldwin stated curtly. “You will come to Sept Tours. First thing tomorrow.”

I cursed as Baldwin hung up though I had to concede I was grateful he agreed to allow us our rest. I looked up at Matthew as I pocketed my phone. His nostrils flared in equal parts annoyance and concern. I knew that his vampiric hearing had allowed him to hear our conversation. Looking around at the rest of our entourage, I knew that Sarah was the only one who hadn’t heard it as she looked from one person to the next, her lips pinched as she waited for someone to fill her in.

“Hello Auntie.” Gallowglass greeted quietly as he walked over to our group, giving Matthew a small nod and smirk in greeting. His hand caressed Rebecca’s blond locks for a moment. “I imagine that was Baldwin telling you that I’m to take you to Sept Tours immediately.”

“Yes.” I said shortly. “But he has allowed that we need to stay overnight to give the kids a chance to rest.” I continued bitterly, my exhausted brain refused to process why Baldwin had wanted us to go to Sept Tours immediately.

Gallowglass merely nodded and we all silently made our ways to the cars that were already waiting for us.

~!~!~

We exited the hotel. The twins were still fussy and my own nerves were a bit frayed. I stopped short on the sidewalk at the sight of the caravan parked in front of the hotel. I looked over at Matthew in disbelief. His lips were pursed as he held onto the leash that held our griffin-turned-Labrador and his eyes surveyed the vehicles. I ran a hand through my mass of hair as I examined them. There were a total of four SUV’s. The two in the middle were Range Rovers – Matthew’s preferred mode of transportation when we were in France – the Rovers were bracketed on either end by hummers. I also spied Gallowglass’s motorcycle at the front of the line.

“When Baldwin mentioned that you’d be staying here overnight, I decided it’d be best if we gave you a bit of a security detail.” The sheepish look on Marcus’s face as he gracefully hopped out of the vehicle directly in front of us was only a mild consolation. “If you had come to Sept Tours immediately, we were confident that you’d be safe before Gerbert even knew you were back on the continent.”

“Hummers, Marcus? Really?” Matthew looked at the hulking masses of vehicles with distaste and I had to agree. They were garish in their bulk.

Marcus merely shrugged, unrepentant. “They make good battering rams.”

I heard Sarah’s curse behind me and I couldn’t help but agree with the sentiment.

“What the hell is going on?” Matthew beat me to the punch in voicing what the rest of our contingent were thinking.

Marcus shook his head. “Discussion can wait until we get home.” While he usually deferred to Matthew as the Sieur of the Bishop- de Clermont scion, his role as the grand master of the Knights of Lazarus had given Marcus the confidence he needed to give orders to his father when necessary.

I didn’t need to look at Matthew’s face to know he was chafing under the lack of knowledge just as much as I was.

~!~!~

Our procession, led by Gallowglass’s roaring motorcycle, slowly ascended the cobbled street that led to Sept Tours. We’d thankfully made it there without incident. As our SUV came to a stop, Matthew quickly alighted and went to the trunk to begin grabbing our bags. The sound of cloth snapping in the wind drew my eyes to the closest tower and a curse from my lips.

“The banners are flying,” I mostly spoke to myself, my eyes still on the flag with the de Clermont Ouroboros insignia.

“What does that mean?” Sarah asked from behind me as she unbuckled Rebecca. Jack had already unbuckled Philip and had come around the car to stand beside us, his little brother in his arms.

“It’s a warning to the villagers to be on their guard.” I explained, “They only fly when there are unknown or unfriendly vampires in the area.” The last time I had seen the banners, Domenico had been to Sept Tours to demand I come before the congregation to give them the book and warn Matthew and I of the consequences if we broke the now defunct covenant.

“Oh, I never asked.” Sarah murmured. “They were up after… after Em.”

I took Sarah’s hand that wasn’t cradling Rebecca in mine and gave it a gentle reassuring squeeze.

“Gandme!” Rebecca and Philip cried happily, both gazing toward the steps that lead into the castle. Ysabeau had been trying to get them to call her ‘grandmère’ with success only dampened by their difficulty with r’s. Ysabeau and Marthe made their way to us quickly.

Ysabeau placed a kiss on Philip’s brow as she took him from Jack’s arms. “Come inside, we’ll greet each other properly there.” She reached over to pet Rebecca’s hair before walking briskly back up the stairs.

~!~!~

We settled in the great hall-cum-family room which had undergone a makeover since the twins’ birth, ensuring that it was cozier and an acceptable area for the kids to play. Currently, they were sat between Matthew and I on one of the sofas. They were obviously tired but feeling too clingy to actually go to sleep in their cots in our tower. Both kids leaned bonelessly against a parent. Philip was sucking on his thumb while Becca merely blinked owlishly as her gaze circled the room. Matthew and I allowed them to stay with us, expecting them to fall asleep any moment. Our fear of the current situation making us just as clingy as our children.

Baldwin sat in the wingback chair beside the currently unused fireplace. Jack sat on the rug, his back leaning against the seat of our sofa, in front of Rebecca and Philip. Fernando, Sarah, and Ysabeau sat on the other sofa while Marthe fussed around us, placing a large tea tray with a mix of tea, sippy cups, and wine, on the coffee table between the sofas. Marcus and Phoebe sat on a couple of chairs that had been brought in from the family dining room and Gallowglass was perched on the arm of the sofa, beside Fernando while resolutely ignoring Marthe’s glares at the abuse of the furniture.

“Thank you, Marthe.” I murmured as she handed me a cup of tea made exactly how I like it. Once everyone had been served, Marthe sat in the only remaining chair.

“Will someone be explaining why we had an armed escort from Lyon any time soon?” Matthew’s patience was clearly wearing thin. Only Rebecca’s little body against his kept him from pacing the room. “Or why we’re at Sept Tours?”

“I invited you into my home for the safety of my niece and nephew.” Baldwin’s gaze softened minutely as he watched the twins. I’d only ever seen him with that look when looking at the kids. He certainly had a soft spot for them. This explained why we’d received the call from Baldwin and not Marcus as the grand master of the Knights. The invitation was not Marcus’s to give.

“Yes, I’d gathered that. The question is why.” Matthew’s words were clipped. I reached my arm over the back of the couch, careful not to disturb Philip, to rest my hand on Matthew’s shoulder in comfort. I watched as his chest expanded with a large breath.

Baldwin looked to Marcus and nodded his head in concession. Sometimes, vampire politics and etiquette made my brain hurt. Our family was especially convoluted.

“Some of Gerbert’s people have been nosing around Les Revenant.” Marcus stated.

“What, exactly, does that mean?” The thought of our home being violated in any way soured my stomach.

“They haven’t been inside.” Marcus hurriedly assured. Matthew, Jack, and I all let out a breath of relief. Trespassing on our land was an act of aggression in the world of vampires. To enter our home without our permission was an open invitation for hostility. “From what we can determine, they’ve not even come onto your lands. They’ve been surveying from afar.”

“They’re analyzing our defenses.” Matthew acknowledged, his voice a low rumble which made Rebecca squirm against his side.

“Gerbert is being careful not to do anything that may upset the current balance.” My mind immediately went to my white table, my favorite way of problem solving when I couldn’t see a picture clearly. The information I was receiving becoming puzzle pieces in my head which I began to rearrange. “But he’s still showing his hand. Why would he do that?”

Marcus shook his head. “He didn’t realize he was. They’re careful not to step on your land or leave their scent behind. We only learned they were doing this a few days ago.” Marcus stated. “After Nathaniel learned of what Gerbert was researching, we decided to place cameras around the outer walls of Les Revenants.”

“The cameras recorded two of his people, walking the borders of your lands.” Baldwin picked up the story. “We’ve since added cameras here at Sept Tours and raised the de Clermont here.”

“And the Bishop- de Clermont banner is flying at Les Revenants.” Marcus added.

“But won’t that show our hand?” Jack spoke up. “If we raise the alarm, he’ll know that we know what he’s up to.”

“I would assume no one in this room would want to use the children as bait.” Baldwin snapped.

Matthew’s head snapped to Baldwin and he glared holes into his skull as Jack’s shoulders curled inward. “You will not speak to my son that way.” He growled. I knew Matthew was at his wit’s end and desperately trying to place boundaries for both himself and those around him, his internal war for control manifesting as possessiveness and posturing for dominance.

“Matthew.” I murmured quietly, squeezing his shoulder.

He took another deep breath. “He only knows that we’re aware he’s sent his people to scope out our home.” Matthew explained and Jack turned his head to look at him. “He’ll back off to regroup, which will give us time to do the same.”

Jack nodded in understanding. Under Benjamin’s control, Jack had only learned how to get lost in the violence of his blood rage. Matthew was using every opportunity he could to teach Jack strategy. He knew from experience, the more rationally you think of battle, the less likely it is to lose yourself in the violence.

“Sister,” Baldwin addressed me. “I suggest you call an emergency meeting of the Congregation.”

I merely nodded in acquiescence. After all, I’d been thinking the same thing.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: Spoilers for season/ series 3 and books 3&4\. Also, I don't own these people. Owning people is bad.
> 
> This bunny wouldn't leave me alone. So here ya go, a nice little interlude.

I sat in the grass of the courtyard gardens at Sept Tours, basking for a moment, the wind billowing through my blue floral print sundress as the sun hit my face. I quickly came back to the present as little Maggie plopped herself on my lap. Sophie and Nathaniel had brought Maggie to our home and the three planned to stay for an extended visit. Sophie and Nathaniel were always fun to have around and I loved having so much time with my goddaughter.

“Mag! Come pway!” I watched as Sarah corralled the twins over to where Margaret and I sat. Though not much corralling was necessary as both kids came barreling at us on unsteady legs. It’d only been a day since she and her parents had arrived and the twins probably didn’t remember the last time they’d seen Maggie but that didn’t stop them from idolizing the girl. She was almost a year older than them and therefore was obviously the fount of childish wisdom.

“How about we all sit in a circle? Yea?” I cajoled, thankful that it took very little convincing to get Maggie to sit on the grass beside me.

Sarah helped direct the twins to sit on the grass to form their portion of our lopsided circle before sitting down herself.

After Rebecca performed her first bit of magic, Sarah and I both agreed we should start getting the kids used to using – and hopefully controlling – their magic. I wanted them to have some semblance of control of at least half of their heritage as early as possible. When they’d heard our plans for the day, Sophie and Nathaniel were happy to let us include Maggie who we all knew was a little weaver as well.

The moment he sat down, Philip grasped a handful of grass in his mouth and Sarah was quick to pause its journey to his mouth.

Thinking quickly, I swiped my right hand in a cutting motion towards the small witch’s garden nearby. Sarah gave me a dirty look as a few dandelions, mugwort, and some henbane, the plants all cut from just centimeters above the ground, floated towards us. Maggie was the first child to notice and gasped in awe, the beads in her dark hair clacking as she looked back and forth between myself and the dancing plants. The twins twisted around in an effort to see what was happening.

“Mama!” “Dancin’ flowas!” The twins both clapped as the shouted in gleeful unison. I hadn’t used a lot of magic around them and their obvious joy brought both a bright smile and a pang of guilt.

With my left hand, I swiped towards the rose bush that created a barrier between us and the rest of the garden. A handful of yellow roses, shorn close to the flower to avoid possible thorns, floated their way over to us as well. Soon, all of the plants came to rest in the center of our little circle.

“Maggie, which flower do you like?” I questioned softly.

Margaret sucked her lower lip in as she contemplated this very difficult question then reached a hand out to grab one of the mugwort plants. I quickly intercepted her and held her little hand in mine.

“Try to get it without touching.” I instructed softly.

Maggie’s face contorted into a confused pout while the twins sat unusually quietly. “How I do tha, Aunt Di?”

I smiled and paused a moment. I was winging it here and I was unsure how to continue. How do you teach weaving to a kid who couldn’t tie her own shoes? Closing my eyes, I opened my witch’s eye to see the world around me as only a witch could. And I knew what to do.

Bringing my hands up, I touched my two index fingers together and then drew a half circle in the air with both fingers until they met again at the other side of my invisible circle.

“Marthe’s going to skin you for that.” Sarah murmured and I knew I’d been successful in digging a shallow trench of a witch’s circle around our little group. Marthe was territorial about her gardens.

“Sand castle!” Philip’s joy was tinged with concern. My little boy always sounded like he didn’t think whatever you were doing was a good idea.

I giggled. “No baby, that’s a witch’s circle.” I explained before opening my eyes to look at the three kids.

I was amazed that the kids hadn’t attempted to touch or leave the circle. Some instinct was telling them to stay where they were.

I closed my eyes once more and concentrated on the threads that connected everything in the world. Focusing on the threads that were within our circle, I plucked a brown and a yellow thread – earth and air – and bound them together in a thrice turned knot so that the joining of the threads looked like a triangle.

At the collective gasps from the children and Sarah, I knew that I was successful once again. Opening my eyes, I smiled as the various threads of the universe – or at least, those contained within our little witch’s circle – became visible to the naked eye.

“Maggie, do you see the threads around your flower?” I asked softly. I almost didn’t want to interrupt as the children – and even Sarah, were still looking around them in awe.

Maggie slowly drew her sharp eyes back to me and then down at the ground where the flowers lay in a haphazard pile. Slowly, she nodded.

“Okay, I want you to pull on one of the threads around your flower. Like this.” With that, I slowly inched my hand forward through the air and pinched a thread that led to one of the dandelions. I then tugged at the thread as if plucking a guitar string. The plant slowly levitated towards me as I brought my hand towards my chest, the thread of brown connected to the plant still pinched between my fingers.

Maggie’s face flattened into intense concentration as she inched her little hand forward. She slowly reached for a shimmering brown thread that led to her plant of choice and pinched grabbed it in her chubby palm. She tugged harshly, her whole body moving backwards at her own momentum as she tugged on the thread. To no avail. The thread stretched thin but did not budge as the flower anchored it to the ground.

“You _want_ the flower, Maggie. Try the yellow thread.” I pointed at the thread I was referring to since I was pretty sure Maggie was only just beginning to learn her colors. As Maggie gave it another go, I looked over to Sarah and gave a nod in Maggie’s direction, telling her to take over before I turned to the twins.

“Which flower do you like?” I asked, pulling their awed attention from what Maggie was doing back to me. The twins stared at me in wonder for a moment before looking down at the ground. They both reached for a plant – Rebecca for some henbane, and Philip went for a rose. I stopped both their little hands from grasping their prize. “Pull their threads, my loves.”

I watched as all three kids attempted to grab their flowers. Within a couple of moments, Maggie’s flower sluggishly rolled across the ground to stop right in front of her little crossed legs.

“Good job!” Sarah and I cheered and the twins joined us in clapping. Maggie’s dimpled, shy, smile was quickly hidden by the leaves of her prize.

Rebecca and Philip went back to their own flowers with renewed vigor though I knew their attention spans wouldn’t last much longer. Becca was growing frustrated and Philip looked like he was trying to soil his diaper, not float a plant through the air.

Just as I was about to call it quits, Philip’s little fist grasped onto a yellow and a brown thread that led to his little rose and tugged. The rose zoomed towards him, smacking him in the face, causing a few of the petals to flutter to the ground in ruins.

Everyone froze as we waited to see how Philip would feel about the latest development. The ruined flower flopped to the ground, exposing the shocked look on Philip’s face, his little mouth shaped a perfect O. Sarah and I both slapped our hands in front of our mouths as we tried to hold in our laughter at the sight.

“Phil ok?” Rebecca murmured in concern.

Philip’s entire face crumpled and I had just enough time to close out the witch’s circle before he threw himself backwards to lay on his back, directly on top of it, his little lungs screaming to the world of his woes. “Alright, class dismissed,” I murmured good naturedly.

~!~!~

My back creaked as I sat up with a groan. I’d been hunched over my laptop in the tower at Sept Tours since the twins went to sleep. I had spent some time grading final papers before switching gears to prep for the congregation meeting. I was leaving for Venice in the morning to confront Gerbert before the congregation. I was done playing with my prey. I was ready to start the hunt in earnest. Tomorrow was the beginning of the end of Gerbert d’Aurillac.

Wiping the sleep from my eyes, I quickly saved my work and closed my laptop. I leaned back in the Victorian monstrosity that served as a desk chair in Matthew’s study and closed my eyes.

“Finally finished, Dr. Bishop?” My husband’s voice washed over me from the direction of the doorway which led to the rest of the chateau.

I smiled, opening my eyes to watch as he sauntered towards me to lean on the desk beside me. “Actually, I stopped being Dr. Bishop an hour ago.” I murmured as I stretched my arms over my head and enjoyed the way the new position drew Matthew’s attention to the V shaped collar of my sun dress. “I just finished being Madame de Clermont.”

Matthew’s hum of acknowledgement sounded more like a predatory growl as he reached for my hand and effortlessly pulled me from the chair and into his arms. “And what are you now then?” He questioned as he widened his stance so that I could stand between the V of his legs. I shivered at the touch of his hands as they encircled my hips, pulling me closer.

I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and leaned in to give a small nip to his bottom lip, gratified when Matthew emitted a deep growl. “Your wife,” I murmured against his lips.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: Spoilers for season/ series 3 and books 3 & 4\. Also, I don't own these people. Owning people is bad.

Gallowglass leapt from the boat before it even touched the small dock. Giving the captain of the boat no time to do so, Gallowglass tied the boat in before offering me his hand to help me out of the boat.

“Watch your step, Auntie.” He murmured as I carefully stepped onto the slippery dock. Gallowglass had joined me on the journey to Venice as my bodyguard. We had arrived at Ca’ Chiaromonte late last night and were now at Isola della Stella – the little island in Venice which was home to the Congregation.

I wrapped the traditional heavy black cloak of a Congregation member around me and ignored the particularly cultish vibe it gave me. Creatures do love their traditions, no matter how silly or weird they may be. I quickly walked through the archway that led to the main courtyard of the villa. Baldwin had instructed me on the benefits of being fashionably late so I wasn’t surprised to find that I was the last member to arrive. The rest were all standing around in the courtyard, divided into groups by creature.

“Well, let’s get started shall we?” I said to no one and everyone as I marched toward the heavy iron door of the meeting hall. I waited for the others to join me, meeting Gerbert and Domenico’s icy glares with one of my own. As usual, Gallowglass hung back in the courtyard, not allowed to come into the meeting hall as a non-member. My eyes panned to the other creatures and I gave Janet Gowdie and Agatha Wilson both a small smile in turn as they walked forward, their own keys in their hands.

The three of us faced the door and inserted our keys into their respective holes. As always, the door seemed to sigh its way open and we all filed into the room, making our way to our seats. I kept my eyes decidedly away from the two vampires that sat on either side of me.

The moment everyone was seated, I spoke. “As the person to call for this meeting, I now call it into session.” I didn’t want my fellow members to have a chance to continue their small talk from the courtyard.

“Please do tell, Madame de Clairmont.” Gerbert’s words dripped from his mouth like oil. The feel of his gaze left my skin frost bitten. “Why did you call this meeting?”

I turned to meet Gerbert’s eyes. “I believe you know very well why we’re here, Gerbert.” I cut my gaze to Rima, the Congregation’s librarian, where she stood in the shadows. She quickly moved forward and began passing around sheaves of heavy paper stock. Once everyone – including myself – had received their packet, I continued. “What Rima has just given you are stills of footage taken from the security cameras which surround my home, Les Revenants.”

I felt Gerbert shift uneasily next to me. “As you can see, two of Gerbert’s children were caught around my home, uninvited.” 

“I hardly think an attempt to visit your family is worth a Congregation meeting.” Domenico interrupted smoothly.

“I would agree with you, Domenico.” I simpered. “However, if you’d take a look at the time stamp on the images, you’ll note that this footage is from well over a week ago.”

“So?” Questioned Sidonie von Borcke, one of the witches of the Congregation.

“It is well known that school was still in session at that time and my family and I were still in the States due to my and my husband’s positions on the faculty at Yale.” I continued. “There is no reason for anyone to have been at our home in France.”

“They may not have known that you weren’t home. Your private affairs are hardly newsworthy enough for every creature in the world to know.” Gerbert scoffed.

“There were no lights on in the entire chateau.” I stated, cutting him an evil glance. “If you flip to the following photos, you’ll note the progress of Gerbert’s children. They are clearly walking the entire border of our lands.”

“Again I ask – so?” Sidonie asked snidely. She’d never gotten over the Madison coven’s ability to pull the wool over her eyes when they protected me from her interest while I worked to steal the Book of Life.

“They’re on a recon mission.” Murmured Tatiana, one of the Congregation’s daemon members. At the short silence at everyone’s surprise that she’d pick up on that, she looked up from where she’d been staring at one of the photos upside down. “What? Osamu got me hooked on ‘Call of Duty.’” She said dreamily before going back to analyzing the photo.

“That’s exactly right, Tatiana.” I decided to focus everyone attention once more.

“There’s no way you can prove that.” Domenico stated sharply.

I merely nodded. “You’re correct. We can’t prove that was the intent.” I agreed, causing Gerbert to smirk. I continued before Gerbert could say something smug. “You see, the images you’re looking at are not the first time Gerbert’s people were on our land while we were away. It’s the last.”

I took a moment to look around the room to gauge the temperature of those around me. The two vampires beside me were glaring at me coldly. The rest of the room appeared to be merely intrigued.

“They had been there several times before. Their presence did not go unnoticed.” I gave a wry smile. “So we decided to set up cameras. The photos you’re looking at are from the night that they noticed the addition.” I turned to Gerbert. “Rather suspicious, is it not?”

As I stared at Gerbert, he began to shift slightly in his seat though he did not look away. I let him freely see the rage burning in my eyes. I clenched my hands into fists. I knew that if I were to look down, they would be blue with flame. For a moment, I let them burn. The faint murmurs around me told me that they had not gone unnoticed.

Taking a breath, I looked around at my fellow Congregation members once more. “I request a censure of Gerbert d’Aurillac.” There had been some argument at home about what exactly we should ask of the congregation. I had wanted to have Gerbert banned but in a surprising show of agreement, Matthew and Baldwin talked me away from that idea. Baldwin advised that I’d never win a vote for that, not with the evidence we had. Instead, we agreed on this form of probation for Gerbert.

Gerbert shot out of his seat in fury. “This is absurd!” He spat. “A censure simply because my people were nosing where they shouldn’t have been? That is a family matter – my family. I will punish them myself.”

“Your children did not stay out past curfew, Gerbert.” Janet scoffed. “They deliberately scoped out de Clairmont land, testing its defenses and they didn’t stop doing so until they got caught.”

“I call upon the congregation to censure Gerbert d’Aurillac.” I officially stated my intent. “Should Gerbert d’Aurillac or any of his family continue to pursue any hostile actions against us, the de Clairmont family and Bishop-de Clairmont scion will consider said actions a declaration of war.”

~!~!~

I was surprised to find that I received the majority vote that first meeting. We still had two more votes in the coming two days as was tradition, but I took this as a good sign. In the eyes of most of the other members, the vote was a mere formality. As long as Gerbert did nothing openly hostile in the next year, the censure would expire with nothing more to be said of the issue. Only myself, Gerbert, and most likely Domenico, knew how unlikely that was.

We filed out of the hall and back into the courtyard, now dimly lit by the twilight. I searched the courtyard and smiled at the sight of Gallowglass heading towards me from the opposite end. Just as I felt a cold hand clamp around my upper arm, I watched Gallowglass’s mouth collapse into a hiss. I was spun around quickly to meet Gerbert, his face inches from mine.

Within the space of a blink, I could feel Gallowglass’s presence at my back. “Unhand Madame de Clairmont, Gerbert.” He stated furiously, his voice grated like stone.

I didn’t need to look around to see the rest of the congregation members had gone silent, all looking in our direction. Thankfully, Gerbert did let go of my arm though he did not move away.

“What purpose does this serve, witch?” He spat the word ‘witch’ as though it were a curse. Gallowglass pushed at Gerbert’s shoulder until he stood a more respectable distance away.

“I believe my intentions were made quite clear, Gerbert.” I stated with all the calm that I didn’t feel. “I’ve made a formal acknowledgement of hostilities towards my family.” I ignored Gallowglass’s warning hiss and stepped towards Gerbert. “If you come near my family, I will end you.”

Gerbert’s eyebrow quirked upward in question. “Oh? As you ‘ended’ Peter Knox and Benjamin Fox?” He questioned. “You know, we never did receive a full report on what happened in Chelm.”

The silence in the courtyard of Isola della Stella was deafening.

“You want to know what happened in Chelm?” My voice had taken on a hypnotic quality. Gerbert took a hesitant step away from me as my eyes turned milky white and words began to scroll where my pupils had been. The book of life within me wanted to answer his query on the life and death of Peter Knox and Benjamin Fox. I shoved the magic away until I knew my eyes had gone back to normal. I wanted to tell him myself.

“First was Peter Knox. I took him apart. Peter Knox became nothing more than atoms. When I was through with him, Peter Knox wasn’t just reduced to dust. His entire existence was invisible to the naked eye.” My voice was a harsh whisper.

“And Benjamin?” I questioned as I felt the cool sensation in my hands that I had become familiar with that told me my hands were burning. I shaped the flames into a bow and arrow. “I shot the goddess’s justice into his chest. Just as I did to Juliette.”

At the same time he took a further step back, Gerbert’s eyes flamed with rage at the mention of his child whom I had killed in the barn at my childhood home.

“Yes, Gerbert. For my family, I will happily end you as I did Peter Knox and Benjamin Fox. I’ll even let you choose which way you’d like to go.” I murmured silkily. “Which will it be? Atoms or arrow?”

“That’s enough, Auntie.” Gallowglass cut through the resulting silence as a diamond cuts through glass. He gently wrapped his hand around my arm in the same spot Gerbert had grabbed me and tugged me along, back to the boat waiting to take us back to Ca’ Chiarmonte.

~!~!~

“You shouldn’t have done that, Auntie.” Gallowglass gently rebuked as we made our way back to the villa, the choppy waves of the lagoon jostling us as the wind buffeted. “You overplayed your hand.”

I shook my head. “No, I played exactly the hand I wanted to.”

“You’ve threatened him. He’s not going to be able to let that go.” Gallowglass cautioned, his brogue thickened with distress. “He’ll come after you.”

I stared through Gallowglass, to the waters beyond him. “That’s the point.”

Gallowglass cursed as realization hit. I wanted Gerbert’s attention. I wanted his focus on me. As long as I was a threat – a worthy prey, Gerbert was going to come after me, not my children.

“Matthew isn’t going to like this.” Gerbert warned.

I shrugged my shoulders. “At least I’m capable of defending myself. Matthew knows it’s better if Gerbert’s attention is focused on me rather than the kids.”

Gallowglass stared at me a moment, his forehead creased with uncertainty. “If you say so, Auntie.”

Gerbert was a shark and the Bishop-de Clairmont family were going fishing. Now it was just a matter of waiting for him to take the bait.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: Spoilers for season/ series 3 and books 3 & 4\. Also, I don't own these people. Owning people is bad.

Matthew took an undignified gulp of his wine as he stared down at the chessboard. He didn’t need his wife’s magic to know that Hamish was staring at him from where he sat at the other side of the board.

His friend had come to Sept-Tours to keep him company while Diana was away. Matthew knew he should feel embarrassed at the idea that he needed to be kept occupied while his wife was away but if her were honest with himself, Hamish’s presence was a comfort. Hamish’s direct, no-nonsense personality was a balm to the monster within which clawed its way to the surface when Diana wasn’t by his side.

It was 4 o’clock in the morning and Matthew knew Hamish’s patience was wearing thin.

“So are you going to tell me what’s the matter?” Hamish’s patience snapped. “We haven’t stayed up to play chess all night since you escaped to my house when you first realized you were craving Diana.”

Matthew shifted in his seat. “To be fair, Diana and I were in 1591 for almost a year during the interim.” He wheedled. “Trust me, I could have used a few of our chess games during that time.”

Hamish simply stared at Matthew, quite unimpressed.

Matthew sighed, squashing down the guilt at the fact the he was going to tell Diana’s tell. It was also his tale, he reasoned. “Diana had a vision.” He started, a quick glance up from the board told him that Hamish’s brow was quirked in a silent _go on_. “A vision of the goddess. She told Diana that she wasn’t done with her yet.”

“Hold on – ‘done with her yet’?” Hamish interrupted.

Ah. Apparently they had never told Hamish the full story of how Diana had saved him. “When Juliette attacked me in Madison.” Matthew took another drink of his wine. “Diana called on the goddess for help saving me. The goddess agreed, but at a price.”

Hamish cursed as he moved his bishop on the board. “That was foolish.”

Matthew tamped down on the anger at the offense on his wife’s behalf. It wasn’t as though he didn’t agree with Hamish. “A life for a life.”

“That was the price?” Hamish asked, astonished. “What exactly does that mean?”

Letting out a sigh, Matthew explained. “We believed that it meant the goddess wanted to use Diana to finally bring justice to Benjamin.” He paused. “That apparently wasn’t all the goddess wanted.”

“If you don’t spit it out, Matt, I’m going to call Diana myself.” Hamish stated impatiently.

“Diana’s vision – the goddess explained that she still had work to do.”

Hamish paused, thinking this through. “Okay, that doesn’t sound so bad. Certainly not worth an all-night chess marathon.”

Matthew cursed under his breath. “Of course, because the goddess using my wife as a pawn isn’t worthy of concern.” He spat.

“That’s not it. I know you Matthew. Get to the heart of the matter, if you please.” Hamish insisted.

“A life for a life, Hamish.” Matthew stated slowly as if he were explaining something to his children. “The goddess doesn’t have just one more job for Diana to do. Sarah believes – and based on the vision, Diana and I have to agree – that the goddess will be using Diana as a … a tool for her so called ‘justice’ for the rest of Diana’s life.” Matthew paused. “And since the bargain was made on my behalf, that could be a very long time.”

Hamish froze in his seat as his brilliant brain connected all the dots. “Diana’s immortal?” He whispered in awe.

Matthew simply nodded, his lips pursed.

“I’m a genius with numbers, Matt, but you’re going to have to spell it out for me. I’m not seeing the downside here. You’ll have eternity with Diana – isn’t this a good thing.”

Matthew stood, his heavy wooden chair screeching against the stone floor as it was pushed back. Grasping his wine in his hand, he walked over to the fire place. “Yes!...No! I don’t know.” Matthew drove his fingers through his hair in agitation. “At what cost?” He questioned brokenly. “What sort of things will the goddess ask her to do? She has already had to kill for her.”

He heard Hamish sigh and his friend’s own chair slide across the stones as Hamish walked over to stand beside Matthew at the fireplace. “You need to stop putting Diana on a pedestal, Matt.” Hamish said before snorting inelegantly. “If you remember correctly, she also killed Juliette. And I seem to remember a story of a witch here at Sept-Tours, in the past.”

Matthew shook his head. “That was life-or-death, Hamish. She had no choice.” He braced his arms against the fireplace. “I will not have my wife become the goddess’s assassin.” He spat.

“It’s a bit late for that, Matt. What’s done is done.” Hamish stated simply. “There’s a big difference between Diana’s new task and what you had to do for the family.”

“Oh? Please do, enlighten me.” Matthew growled.

“She’s not alone.”

Matthew turned his head to look at his best friend. Before he could respond, his phone rang. Matthew stood there a moment, contemplating ignoring the call but the thought that it could be Diana had him fishing in his pocket. His heart thumped once in his chest when he saw Gallowglass’s name on the caller ID. It was 4 am. Something was wrong.

“What is it, Gallowglass?” He answered.

There was silence on the line and Matthew could practically feel his pupils dilating, his eyes going black. “Auntie may have done a foolish thing, Uncle.” Gallowglass finally murmured.

This was the second time someone had called his wife foolish. He was going to have to have words with the men in the family and the knights about respect. “What’s happened?”

“She wanted to shift Gerbert’s focus from the twins.” Gallowglass paused. “She challenged him, Matthew.”

Matthew cursed and it took a Herculean effort not to throw his phone into the fire. “Tell me everything.”

~!~!~!~

I let myself into Ca’ Chairmonte with a happy sigh, Gallowglass right behind me. I immediately removed the black cloak of the Congregation and threw it at the stairs leading to the second floor. I’d take it upstairs with me later.

We had just been at the second Congregation vote for my move to censure Gerbert. We’d lost one vote from yesterday but still held the majority. There was one more day of voting and I was feeling confident that it would go my way. That didn’t mean I enjoyed going to the meetings. The tension between myself and the other two vampires was electric. I now regretted threatening Gerbert the first day of the meet.

Walking into the salon, I stopped abruptly at the sight in front of me. Gallowglass’s vampiric reflexes were the only thing that stopped him from running into my back.

“Matthew? What are you doing here?” I questioned, surprised as I gazed at my husband who was sprawled in one of the antique wingback chairs that was placed near the coffee table.

Matthew didn’t answer, merely quirked his brow at Gallowglass and I felt the air shift behind me as my nephew made himself scarce. Traitor.

Matthew slowly rose from the chair and walked towards me. “Imagine my surprise, mon coeur, when I received a call from Gallowglass early this morning to tell me that my wife had done something monumentally stupid.” He stated silkily. “Something my wife hadn’t told me about during our own phone call yesterday evening when she told me all about the congregation meeting.”

I bristled under Matthew’s scrutiny as well as his tone. “I did what I had to do.” I defended.

Matthew’s eyes alit with anger as he stood before me, though he kept a few feet of distance between us. It felt like a mile. “You are my mate.” He hissed. “You put yourself in danger without discussing it with me first.”

“I am your partner and I made a decision on behalf of our family.” My voice rose with each word. “To protect our children.”

“We had a plan! The children are protected.” He shouted and I now appreciated that Gallowglass had made himself scarce, though I was sure that no matter where he was in the house, he was still able to hear every word.

“Speaking of – where are they? Who’s with them now?”

Matthew pursed his lips. “They’re with their grandmothers, of course.” He spat. “Fernando and Jack are also with them. And I would have been here sooner but I had to wait for Baldwin to arrive from New York to stay with them as well.”

I nodded tersely in acknowledgement. “I stand by what I did, Matthew.”

“You allowed your anger to rule you.”

I tried not to snort at his hypocrisy. “Again, I was protecting our children.”

“You lashed out in anger and showed our hand!” Matthew seethed. I couldn’t stop my foot from sliding backwards, taking a step away. “Gerbert will know that there is more to this than what was discussed in the meetings. A threat like you made is not done merely because he’s been checking out our home!”

“Our home where we live with our children, Matthew!” I retorted. “That is more than enough reason for my threats.”

Matthew scoffed. “You still have no idea what you’ve done.”

“Then explain it to me.” I said stiffly.

“Now we will not only have to defend the children, we’ll also have to spread our defenses to you as well!” He pointed his finger at me. “You were one of our defenses. Now you’ve made yourself a target – a liability.”

My eyes blazed and my fingers itched with fire. “I am fully aware that I made myself a target. That was the point.” I hissed. “You know damn well that I am anything but a liability.”

We stared at each other silently, stuck in a détente.

“Now, if you’ll excuse me,” I spat, “I’m going to bed. I have an important meeting tomorrow.” With that, I spun on my heel and marched to the steps which would take me to our bedroom. I could feel his coolness behind me and stopped in my tracks. “You will not be joining me.” I stated coldly.

~!~!~

When I came downstairs the next morning, I yawned widely as I poked my head into the salon to find Matthew sitting in the same chair he’d been in when I arrived at the house last night. I stopped to lean against the archway into the salon. We stared at each other for a moment before Matthew lifted himself from the chair and walked over to me.

“I’m sorry, mon coeur.” He murmured as he rested his palm against my cheek. “I shouldn’t have spoken to you as I did. In my head, I know you can take care of yourself. In my heart…”

I nodded my head lightly as he trailed off, leaning into his touch. “I know.” He didn’t need to finish his sentence. I knew that he was at constant war with his instincts to possess and protect. He had lost the battle last night. “I’m sorry too.” I murmured. “I should have talked with you about my plans first.”

Matthew drew me towards him and I gladly went, resting my cheek on his chest as my arms wrapped around his waist. I felt the comforting coolness of his arms around my shoulders. We simply stood together, enjoying the closeness.

“Have ye two kissed and made up yet?” Gallowglass bellowed from the kitchen.

I snorted as Matthew’s shoulders shook with silent laughter.

“Come on, I need tea.” I murmured around my giggles.

Matthew and I walked into the kitchen, hand in hand to greet Gallowglass. Making my way to the electric kettle, I noted Gallowglass had already set the water to boil. Walking over, I kissed his cheek in thanks before taking out a mug and the bag of my favorite loose leaf.

“What time is the meeting today?” Matthew questioned as if he didn’t already know. “I’ll be joining you both.” Matthew stated simply.

I paused in my tea preparations to stare at him in disbelief. “You just finished apologizing for calling me a liability and now you want to volunteer yourself for guard duty?” I asked incredulously.

“Wanting to show a united front is not the same as believing you weak.” Matthew spoke with his back turned, continuing to prepare my toast.

“Turn around for this conversation, please.” I requested quietly.

With a sigh, Matthew spun around. Behind me, Gallowglass set the steaming electric kettle beside my mug before leaving the room, muttering. I couldn’t understand what he was saying but from Matthew’s bemused expression, I knew that he could.

“The congregation will not allow another de Clermont on the Isla.” I stated, crossing my arms.

“Which is why I’ll go as a Bishop-de Clermont.” Matthew reasoned with a shrug.

I snorted inelegantly. “Which is a scion of the de Clermont clan. Nice try.” I barely managed to stop myself from rolling my eyes. “I do not need a second guard. Gerbert will not try anything in front of the entire congregation, nor will Domenico. You’re not coming. Just… make sure the jet is ready to go and we’ll meet you at the runway.”

Matthew’s lips pursed. He hated to be managed but sometimes he needed a taste of his own medicine. Finally, after a long moment of silence, he nodded curtly. His protectiveness was at war with his head again. Eventually, his head won out. Matthew knew that were he to come, it’d only invite more trouble rather than fend it off.

~!~!~

We came to a rolling stop in front of Sept-Tours later that day. The vote had gone exactly as I’d hoped and I had taken no small amount of joy as I watched Gerbert get escorted off the Isla, his yearlong censure effective immediately. I had merely smiled lightly as I watched. Though his cold glare which promised retribution made me wish to hide in the shadows, I refused to let my fear show.

As I hopped out of the Range Rover, we were met by Baldwin. “Congratulations, sister.” He murmured as he kissed both of cheeks in greeting. “I would dearly love to hear the tale but I’m due back in New York. I only waited for the three of you to arrive back.” With that and a small nod at Matthew and Gallowglass, his lips tight, Baldwin got into his own vehicle and headed to the airport. That poor pilot, the family were putting him through the wringer this week.

Matthew and I both let out a sigh, our shoulders sagging in relief as we entered Sept-Tours to the sounds of our family.

~!~!~

The following morning, the twins and I were in their room. I was attempting to instill in them some semblance of responsibility for their belongings and so we were picking up their toys from the floor. By ‘we’, I meant that I was picking them up and placing them in their respective toy chests and the twins removed them to play with them for a second before discarding it back on the floor. I couldn’t bring myself to be annoyed though as the three of us danced and wiggled to the pop song currently playing on the radio.

“Oh, I kind of like this!” Marcus enthused from the doorway and I smiled in greeting. When we came home last night, it had been to find that Marcus and Phoebe had also just arrived back from their trip to London where Phoebe had been appraising a piece of art for one of her many vampire clients. It was well known within the family that Marcus was a huge fan of 80’s dance music, so I could see the appeal that the current song would have for him. It had the same energetic vibe.

I laughed as Marcus picked Becca up, swinging her in the air before settling her on his hip. He then joined in the dancing as the bass thumped. I felt a little tug on my pants and smiled softly, picking Philip up at his gentle entreaty and began swaying with him, joining Marcus as we both began to perform some semblance of a fast-paced waltz with our respective toddler partners. The children both squealed in laughter and Marcus and I both joined in, careful not to step on the toys that still littered the floor.

“What in the world is all that – “ Marcus and I both spun to face the door at Matthew’s aborted exclamation. Marcus and I both looked at each other and grinned at Matthew’s bemused smile before he broke into guffaws at the sight of us.

Once he gained some semblance of control, Matthew strode over to Marcus. “Mind if I cut in?” He questioned, though plucked Rebecca from Marcus’s arms without waiting for a response. Marcus gasped in mock affront, though quickly went to the doorway and said Phoebe’s name. There was no need to shout in a house of vampires. Within moments, Phoebe was right beside her mate.

“Care to dance?” Marcus questioned, offering his hand gallantly. We all laughed and I began to dance with my son once more. Marcus and Phoebe joined just as a new song came on.

I snorted and shook my head in bemusement at my husband. He was clearly outside his comfort zone with this sort of music but Rebecca’s impatience at his stillness soon had him swaying in some mimicry of dancing. It was enough to make our daughter happy.

“Next time Phoebe and I go dancing, you’re coming with us, Diana!” Marcus enthused. Apparently I had decent enough moves when it came to dancing to pop music that my son was willing to be seen with me in public.

“Absolutely not!” Matthew gasped in mock horror.

I grinned and winked at Marcus. “It’s a date!”

The next song was a much slower love ballad. I could just barely catch Matthew murmuring his thanks to god over the sound of the music. I smiled up at him and he returned it with one of his shy smiles.

I didn’t need to look in their direction to know that Marcus and Phoebe were dancing much closer now.

Matthew and I stepped closer until he was able to place one hand on my hip and I wrapped an arm around his shoulder, the twins sandwiched between us as we swayed. Both kids smiled at each other and sighed happily, resting their heads on their respective parents’ chest.

I kissed the top of Philip’s head before looking back up at my husband. My mind cast back to one of our last nights in 1591. My father who was also a time walker had been horrified at our ideas of fun and demanded we go out for the night.

“You know, we really are quite terrible at going out on dates.” I teased. “I hope you don’t consider this taking me out dancing.”

Matthew chuckled, his laughter a low rumble in his chest as he leaned forward. “Come now, I do believe this is at least one step up from what the kids these days call, I believe, ‘Netflix and chill.’” He murmured against my lips as he placed a gentle kiss there.

Marcus and Phoebe joined me in laughing at my poor husband’s expense.

“Don’t worry, mum.” Marcus teased. “I’ll school Matthew in the art of dating.”

“He clearly needs it.” Phoebe murmured, which set off a new round of laughter.

Matthew heaved a put upon sigh and I quickly went to my toes to wipe it away with my lips. Just as I was about to pull away, I heard the distinctive click of a camera. Every adult in the room’s head swiveled to face the doorway, as if we were teens caught out at mischief to find Jack and Sarah standing in the doorway with Ysabeau behind them.

“Very cute.” Ysabeau murmured as she gazed at the cell phone screen that Jack held aloft, clearly having just taken a photo with it.

Sarah nodded in agreement as Jack grinned. “Don’t worry, I’ve already sent a copy to everyone’s cellphones,” he assured, “including Baldwin’s.”

Jack’s riotous laughter followed him down the stairs as he ran away to the sound of Matthew and Marcus’s indignant shouts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And yes, the song that first gets Marcus dancing is "Blinding Lights" by The Weeknd.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: Spoilers for season/ series 3 and books 3 & 4\. Also, I don't own these people. Owning people is bad.

I stood at the counter, slicing an apple into pieces that were easy for tiny hands to clasp and large enough for the twins to nosh on. Matthew stood beside me, filling their sippy cups with the twins’ drink of choice. The twins were in their high chairs, cooing to each other sleepily as they were still waking up from their nap, three in five words they said were now coherent and I wondered not for the first time, where the time had gone.

As if he could read my mind, Matthew turned his head to gaze at the twins as he screwed the lid onto Philip’s cup. “It was evident rather early on that they would be advanced for their ages, with both witch and vampire blood in their veins – “

“Not to mention, both of us were rather prodigious kids ourselves.” I murmured.

Matthew nodded in concession. “Their development still surprises me sometimes.”

The kids were still four months shy of being two and yet they were already able to make themselves understood and converse with us in short sentences. He walked over to the twins. Both Becca and Philip made grabby hands, entreating him for their sippy cups.

Matthew stood before them, refusing to give them their sippy cups, his brow raised. The twins glanced at each other in confusion before Philip finally shouted, “Pease!” He was quickly echoed by Becca.

Smiling, Matthew handed both kids their cups. This time, Becca was the first to murmur her thanks around the spout of her sippy cup.

“I’ve been thinking.” Matthew stated as he leaned against the counter. I passed out the apple slices to the kids and turned to face him.

“Okay…”

“You should call Janet, ask her to stay at Les Revenants.” Matthew shifted, crossing his arms in front of himself. “I’d feel better knowing she was close.”

I understood where Matthew was coming from. I was also concerned about Janet. Gerbert was curious about bright born children and she was a bright born – a person with both witch and vampire blood, just like our twins. Though Janet’s hybridism was a couple generations removed, she was still quite long lived and healthy as a horse, not to mention, a formidable witch. Gerbert knew that our kids were well protected here in Sept Tours, with dozens of Knights who could be here within an hour on speed dial. Janet lived in a tiny farming village in Scotland.

I nodded my head. “It may hold more sway if the request came from you.”

“If it came from me, it wouldn’t be a request.” As the sieur of the Bishop- de Clermont scion and, technically, Janet’s great-great grandfather, if Matthew were to ask Janet to come to France, she would have no choice but to obey. Janet had never expressed any interest in being a part of our family and so Matthew was trying to respect that by allowing her to maintain her autonomy while also offering the protection our family and the Knights of Lazarus could provide her.

“Okay, I’ll give her a ring.”

~!~!~

“Hey Janet, it’s Diana.” I greeted, my cell phone tucked between my ear and my shoulder. I was washing up after the twins’ supper while Marthe kept them occupied. Matthew had gone off to talk with Miriam about their research.

“Hey girlie, how are you?” I couldn’t help but smile at the sound of Janet’s sunny disposition and thick Scottish brogue.

“I’m alright. Listen, I actually wanted to ask if you’d like to come to France and stay at Les Revenants.” I got right to the point. “I’d feel better knowing that you were nearby.” I didn’t need to explain why. As a member of the Congregation, Janet knew very well why I was concerned for her safety.

“Is this coming from Diana or Madame Bishop- de Clermont?”

Janet’s pertinent question gave me pause. “I just want to offer you some protection, Janet. You’re my friend.” I couldn’t hide the hurt from my voice. Apparently, Matthew’s attempt to avoid making this seem like a command wasn’t going to work out as we’d hoped. I didn’t like that I was now in a position where even discussing my friends’ safety with them was a political maneuver. Unfortunately, as the matriarch of a family of vampires and witches, it was a bitter pill that I was going to have to swallow.

The other line was silent for a moment. “Thanks, but no thanks, dearie.”

I blinked at her abrupt decline of the offer and braced myself against the sink, ignoring the way that the sudsy dish water was now dripping onto my feet. “Janet, you’re in just as much danger as the twins –“

“No dear, I appreciate you thinking of me, and tell Matthew I said the same. But I’ve been my own woman and watched out for myself for a couple centuries. I’ll not change that now.”

Our conversation ended soon after that.

~!~!~

“It’s her decision, Diana.” Matthew stated sternly as he wrangled Becca into her pajamas.

I blew out a heavy breath, trying to get a lock out of my face as I wrestled Philip into his pajamas. I chose to pause our conversation while I tried to get a very cranky toddler into his clothes.

“C’mon Philip, you can have your giraffe once you’re in your jammies.” I tried to coerce my son as he arched his back in an attempt to grab his favorite stuff animal from where it sat just out of his reach on the floor, just over his head. I leaned over to push the giraffe further away and Philip quickly grasped my wrist and bit down. Gasping in shock, I looked down to where my son’s little baby teeth had just barely pierced the skin of my wrist.

A dangerous growl sounded from beside me, and I took a calming breath. One of the adults in the room had to keep a level head. I didn’t need to look over to know that Matthew’s eyes had already gone black.

“Uh oh.” A little murmur came from Rebecca lay on the floor near her brother.

I gently extracted my wrist from Philip’s little hands and stood. “Matthew, take Rebecca into the hall.” I knew I needed to get Matthew out of the room to handle this on my own. I knew what needed done from the few times where Becca had used her teeth to tell whoever she was with that she was not amused. However, the majority of our family being vampires, this was the first time either twin had bitten a warmblood.

Matthew stood up, Becca in his arms even as she whined to be put down. “Diana –“ His voice was still a growl.

“Go. I’ll take care of it.” I stated as I stood up, making sure not to look at Philip as I did so and turned around, my back now facing him. This was a universal sign among vampires that you were displeased with their behavior and brutal as it may seem to use it with toddlers, it had ensured that Becca stopped biting others after just a couple attempts.

Philip began to whimper, which turned into a shriek of despair when Matthew walked out of the room, taking his sister with him. I folded my arms and straightened my back, resisting the urge to take my son into my arms and comfort him. There was only a small dot of blood which was already in the process of drying. To an outsider, it could be equated to a toddler scratching someone while upset and just having to be in need of some nail clippers. But for vampires, biting someone without their permission was strictly taboo and the twins had to learn this as early as possible. As bright borns with a father that had blood rage, we could not afford for them to bite the wrong person.

Philip continued to sob and I bit my lip against my own tears but remained standing with my back turned to him. After several long minutes, I heard a small sniffle and the shuffling of a toddler getting to his little feet. I risked a glance down as Philip barreled into the back of my legs and wrapped his chubby arms around my calves.

“I sorry, mama.” He hiccupped. “I sorry!”

Now that he had come to me and apologized, I knew that custom dictated it was now safe for me to acknowledge him. I did more than that. Swooping down, I picked Philip up and bundled him into my arms. He immediately tucked his little face into the crook of my neck.

“I sorry.” He murmured wetly.

“Shh, I know baby.” I cooed. “You can’t do that. No biting, okay?”

Philip nodded his head against my chin, his dark little curls soft against my chin.

I looked up to see Matthew leaning against the door jam, Becca unusually subdued in his arms. I was glad to note that his eyes had gone back to their normal stormy green, though his strong jaw was set in fierce displeasure. I understood his turmoil. We had thought that Philip didn’t have the vampiric traits that our daughter exhibited. But it appeared as though our son was just a bit of a late bloomer.

~!~!~

Later that evening, Jack, Matthew and I were lounging in the family room, everyone else having already gone up to their rooms for the night. It had taken a while for us to settle the kids down after the biting debacle and now we were sprawled out on the couch, a little wrung out while Jack fiddled with his phone. I startled at the sound of his phone suddenly ringing.

Matthew and I both looked over at Jack and he stared at his phone a moment in confusion before answering it.

“Chris? What’s up?” He questioned. Both Matthew and I sat up on the couch. It was late and while they were pretty close – Jack viewing Chris as a pseudo uncle – it was still odd for Chris to be calling so late. I waited apprehensively, annoyed at my human hearing as my husband’s eyes narrowed at whatever he could hear Chris saying on the other line. It wasn’t fair that I was always the last to know what was going on because I was surrounded by vampires with preternatural hearing.

“Uh yea, I can do that.” Jack pulled the phone from his ear to apparently check the time. “I should be there around 10:30.”

Jack quickly called off and stood, running a hand through his hair in a mimicry of Matthew when he was stressed.

“Well?” I asked impatiently. “Are either of the vampires in the room going to fill me in?”

“Chris is at the airport in Lyon.” Matthew responded tightly. “He wants Jack to pick him up.”

“What? Chris didn’t say anything about visiting.”

Both Matthew and Jack nodded in agreement. “Yes.” Matthew shot up from where he sat beside me. “Something is wrong.”

~!~!~

It was well beyond midnight when I heard a car pull up to the front drive of Sept-Tours. All of the adults in the household, even Sarah, were now gathered in the family room. The rest of the vampires had overheard as Matthew had argued with Jack to go with him. Just as everyone made their way to where we were, Jack and I had convinced Matthew that he should stay behind. There was a reason Chris had asked for only Jack to pick him up. We’d find out what it was, soon enough.

We all stood in almost perfect unison and made our way into the entry hall. It was only a few moments before the low murmur of Jack and Chris talking could be heard from the stairs leading into the house. It took much longer – unusually so – for them to make their way into the castle.

I gasped in dismay as the reason for this became evident as soon as Jack held the door open for Chris, Chris’s luggage in his other hand. Chris maneuvered his crutches through the doorway, his left foot in a cast. Looking around the room to see the entire household standing in front of him, Chris attempted a crooked grin but quickly winced in pain as it pulled at his split lip. I could see the dark skin around his right eye was purpling and swollen.

“What the hell happened?” I asked as both I and Marthe stepped forward to help him though he was clearly rather adept at using his crutches.

“Let’s take this into the family room, shall we?” Ysabeau framed it as a question though everyone knew it was a command. “Let’s get Chris off his feet. Marthe, it looks like he could use a cold compress for his eye.” Marthe quickly scuttled towards the kitchen as the rest of us trooped into the family room.

“Alright, we’re all settled. Now tell us what the hell is going on.” Sarah demanded the moment Chris was sitting on the couch, his leg propped up on the coffee table with a pillow underneath for cushion.

Chris looked over at Matthew, his eyes grim. “Someone broke into the lab. Unfortunately for them – and me, I was there working late.”

I sucked a huge breath in through my nose at the news and could feel Matthew sit forward beside me.

“Someone?” He questioned.

Chris gave a short nod. “A vampire.”

“How do you know?” Ysabeau asked, though not unkindly.

“Because he did that with their bare hands.” Chris stated with a snort, pointing to where his leg was in a cast from his foot to about mid-thigh.

“Oh Chris.” I commiserated with a wince.

Chris gave a sheepish shrug. “Thankfully, I took to packing since I became a knight.” He murmured. “I shot him.”

“Where?” Gallowglass spoke up for the first time.

“In the head.” Chris murmured grimly.

I reached over and took his hand, squeezing in comfort. My sweet and down-to-earth best friend had led a normal until he met me. Guilt gnawed at me.

“Don’t Diana.” He cut through my inner turmoil. “I chose this life. And I don’t regret it.”

“Why were you working so late?” Matthew asked. “We’re not at a critical stage in our research.”

At this, Chris shifted uneasily. “I was going over the results of some bloodwork.”

Matthew merely raised his brow in a silent command to continue.

Chris’s lips pursed in consternation. He hated when Matthew tried to cow him as the head of a vampire family, and ranking member of the Knights of Lazarus. Matthew and Chris’s alpha personalities often clashed and Chris was usually the one to back down first which irritated him to no end.

“I ran my own bloodwork.”

“Why?” My impatient aunt asked what we were all thinking.

“I wanted to see if I had the daemon markers in my blood.” Chris stated, his chin jutting out as he answered Sarah, though his eyes didn’t leave Matthew’s.

“No.” Matthew spat. “Absolutely not.”

I looked between my husband and my best friend. “No what? What’s going on?”

When moments passed and it seemed as though I wasn’t going to get an answer, Marcus spoke up. “It sounds like Chris wants Matthew to make him a vampire.” Marcus paused. “He was trying to find out if he had the genetic markers that would cause him to be symptomatic for blood rage.”

Chris’s lips curled in distaste though he was now staring at his lap. “Not Matthew. That’d be a bit too weird for me.” Chris didn’t like the thought of Matthew essentially becoming his vampire father. Which, since that would make him my son as well, I couldn’t help but agree. That would be too weird. “But what happened in the lab – it only affirmed my decision. That vampire wouldn’t have gotten the jump on me if I’d been a vampire too.” Chris defended. “And I don’t, by the way – have the markers.”

“Okay…” I said leadingly. “But if not Matthew, who would you like to do it?”

Chris lifted his gaze and stared at Ysabeau. “I won’t have Matthew as my vampire daddy. But as my brother – “ His gaze flicked back to Matthew. “That, I can do.”

There was complete silence in the family room as no one dared to speak. Matthew stared at Chris stonily for a moment before nodding slightly. Matthew was stating a lot with that barely perceptible nod – ‘Yes, you have my permission,’ and ‘welcome to the family’ being chief among them.

“We’ve gotten off track.” Matthew stated. “What happened in the lab, Chris?”

Chris slouched in his chair and his face seemed to sag in exhaustion. It’s no wonder, he must have gone to the hospital straight from the lab and then from the hospital, almost directly to the airport. And now, rather than a bed, he received an inquisition when he arrived at Sept Tours.

“I wasn’t lying when I said the guy came out of nowhere.”

“But the security protocols –“

Chris held a hand up to silence Matthew. “Man, I’m exhausted. Let me get through this story so that the lovely Marthe can show me where I can lay down for a few years, alright?”

Matthew’s lips thinned but he nodded.

“He had a guest pass. He must have swiped one from the guards or something. All I know is, he got in.” Chris took a sip of the water he’d been holding. Marcus wouldn’t let him drink alcohol on his pain meds. “He saw me and just… came at me.”

“Do you think he knew you were going to be there?”

Chris gave Matthew a sour look at his need to have his questions answered. “No. He was definitely surprised. He was even more surprised to find out I was carrying.”

“Are you sure he’s dead?” I asked gently.

Chris cursed and rubbed his hand across the top of his head. “No, I don’t think he is.”

“What do you mean?” Sarah shouted. “You said you shot him in the head!”

“That’s not necessarily fatal for a vampire.” Gallowglass explained gently.

“Listen, once he was down, I called 911.” I could hear Sarah explaining in whispers to Marthe about what ‘911’ was. “I didn’t want to stick around so I crawled my ass out to the hall.”

Sarah tsked and rolled her eyes at his perceived idiocy.

“I know, but I had just shot a guy for dislocating my knee. Don’t judge me for not wanting to stay in the same room.” Chris defended. When he received no further commentary, he continued. “Once the police were there and the ambulance, everything happened kind of fast. Police took my statement while the paramedics fixed me up. When the cops went down to the lab to look around…the guy was gone.”

I sucked in a breath as Matthew cursed and stood up to begin pacing in front of the fireplace.

“Matt, the lab itself is Fort Knox. He couldn’t have gotten anything.” Chris attempted to sooth Matthew’s mind. “Besides, he was probably too worried about just getting the hell out of there to even attempt to figure out our lock codes.”

“I’m sure he’s right, Matthew.” Marcus said in his best bedside manner, always the peace keeper. “I haven’t been to the Yale labs but from what you and Miriam have told me, there’s no way he could have seen anything.”

Matthew drove his hand through his hair. On his second pass in front of the couch, I grabbed his hand and pulled him down beside me. I knew what he was concerned about. Both of our DNA was in that lab. The answer to how bright born children are created sat in that lab. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders. Feeling some of the tension immediately drain away from him, I kissed his neck softly and felt his hand come around my back to rest on my hip in response to my attempts at comforting him.

“Matt, he didn’t see anything.” Chris assured.

Matthew stewed in silence for another long moment before giving Chris a single nod. “Alright, I’m sure you’re right.” He murmured. “Let’s all get to bed. Sarah, do you have something to help Chris with his face?”

“What’s wrong with my face?” Chris cried in mock affront. He knew very well that almost an entire half of his face was swollen and bruised.

“No need.” I stood from my seat and walked over to Chris. Opening my third eye, I took hold of the green threads of healing that surrounded my best friend and wove them together to aid a speedy recovery.

“Wow!” Chris gasped softly. “That’s it, you’re never leaving my side. I’m taking you to the gym with me. That feels amazing!” Chris tenderly traced his fingers along his injured cheek. As we watched, the swelling and discoloration was reducing dramatically.

I cleared my throat awkwardly. “It should help with your leg as well.” I explained. “That’ll still take some time though, so no wrestling with Gallowglass any time soon.”

“Well damn.” Gallowglass murmured under his breath from somewhere behind me, effectively breaking the last of the tension in the room.

“Good, that’s settled.” Ysabeau stated tartly. “Now, I’d like everyone to go back to their rooms and leave me to discuss a few things with my future son.”

Chris and I met eyes and promptly winced. Despite our rough start, I loved Ysabeau. But I didn’t envy my best friend in that moment.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: Spoilers for season/ series 3 and books 3 & 4\. Also, I don't own these people. Owning people is bad.

“Chris, are you sure about this?” I looked to my left where my best friend lay on the lush rug of the family room. We both had a kid sitting on our bellies. Becca was on my stomach, reading her current favorite book upside down while Philip bounced on Chris.

“Mama, don’t like geen.” Becca asserted apropos nothing.

“I know, baby. Green is Philip’s favorite color.” I agreed. “You like purple.”

“Geen!” Philip shrieked, pointing at Chris’s shirt. “Geen shirt, uncle Chis!” Chris’s shirt was, in fact, green with a Harvard logo imprinted on a shamrock.

“Yea bud, my shirt’s green. Good job!” Chris said with a snort and a wide grin before turning his head to look at me. “And yea to you too, bud.” He teased. “I’m sure.”

“Chris, I’m serious!” I needed my best friend to be serious for a minute. We hadn’t had a chance to talk about what had happened two nights ago, his bomb shell that he had dropped on everyone. In that time, The bruising on Chris’s face had healed completely and he was now able to put enough weight on his leg to hobble around thanks to morning healing magic sessions with me and some of Sarah’s horrid smelling poultices in the evenings.

“I am serious, Diana.” Chris ignored Philip slapping his chest excitedly for a moment in order to gaze at me steadily. “I’ve given it a lot of thought and I’m not gonna change my mind.”

“I hate to interrupt but I do believe you’re discussing the exact same thing I would like to.” Ysabeau stated as she floated into the room, plucking Becca off of me to set her on her own lap as she sat on the sofa.

I quickly sat up and got off the floor to sit beside Ysabeau, not enjoying the idea of being prostrate at Ysabeau’s feet. Chris had no such discomfort.

“Hey future mom!” Chris greeted cheerily as he craned his neck to the point where the crown of his head almost met the floor so he could look at Ysabeau.

Ysabeau gave a long suffering sigh as she rolled her eyes in my direction and I winced in commiseration. Chris may not be having second thoughts but I had a feeling that Ysabeau might be.

“It is either Ysabeau or maman.” Ysabeau stated tiredly. “You may not be French but I am. All of my children have called me that in the past and I will not stoop to ‘mom’ now.” She cut off the argument she knew Chris was going to make before he had a chance, spitting the word _mom_ like a curse or, more likely, as though it were much too pedestrian for her taste and therefore beneath her.

Ysabeau’s eyes softened as she turned her attention to Becca for a moment as my daughter played with her grandmère’s hair which was currently flowing down around her face in soft curls. She quickly cut her gaze back to my best friend, however.

“If you wish to be able to go back to the school in time to teach the fall semester, we will need to do this within the next week.” Ysabeau paused a moment, her brow lifting haughtily. “It’s a good thing you’re rather physically fit. It’d be unfortunate for you to be stuck with a… paunch for the rest of eternity.”

Chris’s eyes widened and he looked down at himself. I imagined he was thinking of being stuck exactly as he was today for forever. I knew I was.

“It’s not fair to make fun of Baldwin if he isn’t here to defend himself, maman.” Matthew murmured, his voice taking on a teasing lilt as he stalked into the room.

Ysabeau gave an indelicate snort and I giggled as Chris guffawed. ‘Paunch’ was an excellent word for the little tum that Baldwin had carried for millennia despite his vampiric nature – his body frozen in time. The kids had no idea what was funny but happily joined in the laughter. Within moments, Matthew had me in his arms and was settling me in his lap as he took the place I’d just been on the couch.

“But to be serious, Chris – there’s only two months until school starts again. Maman believes that to be enough time, I disagree.”

“It took three months before Freya and Miriam trusted Phoebe enough to be around humans.” I spoke up and gave felt my face twist into a small apologetic smile as I looked at him.

“So, what? I should hold off a year until the next summer break?” Chris shook his head, finally sitting up and drawing one leg closer to his chest to rest an arm on his knee. “I’m not waiting. The longer I wait, the longer I’m a liability.” Chris argued. “I’m not taking that chance when we’ve got threats right outside our door. Before we all head back to New Haven for the next semester, I’m going to be a vampire.”

“Chris, you can’t make this decision because the family is in danger.” The thought alone made me incredibly uncomfortable. “You can’t decide to become a vampire, to live for centuries or even millennia because we’re in trouble right now.”

Chris’s cheeks hollowed as he swallowed heavily, his temper flaring. “I know what I’m doing Diana. I didn’t sign on as a knight lightly, and I’m not doing this lightly either.”

Silence among the adults followed, only the kids’ soft murmuring echoed in the large room.

“Alright, but we’re going to have a plan in place, in case you’re not ready before the semester starts.” Matthew finally agreed. “If we must, you’ll take some time off for a ‘family emergency’ and I will take on your lab duties.”

Matthew and Chris had been tag teaming the research into creature genetics and grad school teaching duties that came along with it. If Chris wasn’t able to get back in time for the start of the semester, Matthew would be able to shoulder all of the responsibilities. Needing very little sleep had its perks.

“That’s settled then.” Ysabeau stated with finality. “Now, where will Diana, Sarah, and the twins stay while Christopher acclimates to being a vampire?”

“They’ll stay here at Sept Tours, Chris you’ll stay at Les Revenants with Freya." Matthew stated, referring to one of Philip's infamous daughters. She had helped Phoebe with her transition. "Marcus and Phoebe will also most likely help as well when you begin to learn how to hunt.” Matthew laid out the plan.

“You won’t be helping?” Chris asked, his tinged with confusion.

Matthew shook his head with a small apologetic frown. “I’ll smell too much like Diana and the twins. I may come towards the end of your acclimation period but it’s safer if you don’t get the scent of warmbloods until you’ve gotten better control of your cravings.”

Chris swallowed and nodded his head heavily. “What about you, Ysabeau?”

“We’ve found in the past that I’m not the best tutor on vampire nature.” Ysabeau said quietly as she laid a gentle kiss on Becca’s head. “My way of hunting is… unorthodox.”

That was certainly one way of putting it. Though millennia had taught Ysabeau how to live among warmbloods, hunting was strictly a way of nourishing her body, a means to an end. Ysabeau was used to simply taking what she wanted – what she needed. New vampires needed someone who was going to teach them how to manage the predator instincts if they wanted to learn how to live among warmbloods quickly. Teaching a new vampire to enjoy the hunt in a safer environment where they could stalk deer and other wildlife to their heart’s content was a tried and true method of teaching the control that Ysabeau often lacked when hunting. I remembered how furious Matthew had been when he found out Ysabeau had taken me hunting with her. It would have been all too easy for my scent to have gotten mixed up with the animals she had fed on. And she would have felt no desire or compunction to stop. 

~!~!~

That night, Matthew and I lay in bed. He was sat up against the headboard, reading in the candlelight while I lay snuggled against his head, attempting to fall asleep and failing miserably.

“What is it, mon coeur?” Matthew finally asked when it became apparent I wasn’t going to sleep any time soon.

“We need to draw Gerbert out.” I whispered. “Before we go back to New Haven.” Our house in New Haven offered little protection and it didn’t have the history of Sept Tours or even Les Revenants. Even dead, Philip de Clermont’s name still held sway. Most vampires thought twice before trespassing inside of the two chateaus in France. They may watch them, but they won’t step foot inside without an invitation. Taking that as well as the lack of physical barriers – outer walls and even moats – into consideration, New Haven wasn’t secure and neither Matthew or I were willing to risk taking the twins back until Gerbert had been dealt with.

Matthew marked his place in his book with a sigh and placed it on the bedside table. “You may be willing to put yourself at risk, but I am not.” He stated sternly. “So how do you propose we do that?”

I ran a hand through my hair as I sat up and turned to face him. “Matthew, this stalemate can’t continue. Gerbert may be patient, but I’m not.” I argued, trying not to raise my voice as we had two toddlers sleeping in the other room as well as a chateau full of vampires. “We need to control the situation, not wait for him to make a move.”

“Another queen’s gambit, ma lionne?” Matthew asked in exasperation.

“If that’s what it takes, then yes.” I stated. “Matthew, I understand that you don’t want to put me in danger. But I’m already _in_ danger. Me and the twins. As long as Gerbert is out there, he’ll never stop until he has what he wants.”

Matthew’s jaw tightened and I could practically hear his teeth grinding. “Okay. Fine, you win Diana. We’ll draw him out.” He held up a hand, interrupting me before I could speak. “But we will do so in way that puts you in the least amount of risk, understood? We’re not going to have another Chelm.”

~!~!~

A couple of days later, the entire household, including Baldwin, sat around the large table in the dining hall. Only the twins were missing as we’d put them to bed an hour ago. It was Chris’s last meal as a human and Fernando and Marthe had pulled out all the stops – cooking all of his favorites, even their own interpretation of a New York style pizza. I had contributed chocolate chip cookies made with Em’s recipe for dessert and they sat waiting at the side board behind us.

“Any news of Gerbert?” Baldwin asked during a lull in conversation as we humans dug into the veritable feast.

Matthew and I glanced at each other, a silent conversation held between us and a decision made.

“He’s been quiet.” Matthew started. “And that’s the problem.”

“He was always rather patient. Even for a vampire.” Ysabeau agreed. “He’ll wait until an opportunity arises.”

I cleared my throat. “That’s why we’ve decided to give him one.”

Everyone’s necks turned on a swivel to look at me.

“You’re gonna have to explain that, Auntie.” Gallowglass said gruffly.

“We cannot let him control the situation. We have to make our move first.” Matthew took control of the explanation. “We – I’m just unsure how to do that without putting Diana at unnecessary risk.”

“’Unnecessary’ seems a bit relative in this situation, Matthew.” Marcus spoke up. “Gerbert won’t make a move for anything less than what he thinks is a sure thing.”

“Marcus is right.” Baldwin agreed. “Gerbert won’t do anything unless he knows he can get his hands on Diana.”

“Well we’re sure as hell not going to just hand her over – demi-goddess or not!” Sarah cried.

“Sarah!” I shouted as Matthew hissed angrily.

“What?! Surely you can’t be thinking of actually – “

I sat forward in my seat. “That wasn’t your tale to tell!”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Sarah spat.

Baldwin chuckled and shook his head wryly. “You sound more like a de Clermont every time I visit, sister.” He teased.

“It may not have been her tale to tell but I must admit to being quite curious now that it’s been brought to the table, as it were.” Ysabeau murmured softly, cutting through Baldwin’s amusement.

I looked to Matthew and he waved his hand in a _go ahead_ motion. “They’d figure it out soon enough, anyway.” Matthew sat back in his chair, his eyes heavy lidded with resignation.

I heaved a large sigh, unable to argue the logic. It would become abundantly clear that something was up after a couple years when it became evident that I wasn’t aging. “I had a vision of the goddess.” I started and swallowing thickly. I really didn’t want to deal with this revelation. I felt Matthew slip his cool hand into mine and give a gentle squeeze in encouragement. “In it, she told me that she wasn’t done with me yet. That, since I offered my life for Matthew’s after Juliette… and since Matthew is immortal…”

“Maria, Deu Maire.” Marthe whispered into the stunned silence as everyone quickly put together the puzzle pieces.

“She said that I’m to be her vessel.” My voice had become little more than a whisper.

“Her vessel for what?” Ysabeau questioned, barely able to keep her voice controlled. Like Matthew, she was furious at the goddess’s interference despite the fact that I had made the offer. Ysabeau knew the circumstances of how I saved Matthew after Juliette almost killed him. To a vampire, what I had done wasn’t an informed decision and it was the goddess’s responsibility to ensure I knew what I was asking for. It was tantamount to making a new vampire without explaining the process and implications, without asking permission.

“Justice.” I murmured.

I heard Gallowglass curse lowly and saw Baldwin’s brow raise in interest. I didn’t want to think of the implications of that look.

“What exactly does that mean?” Fernando questioned softly.

“It means that we’ve got another assassin in the family.” I wanted to wipe the little smirk off Baldwin’s face and Matthew’s answering growl told me he was of the same mind.

“Absolutely not.” Matthew hissed.

“It means that I will ensure the protection of all creatures, whomever needs it.” I stated sternly.

“Not that I’m not going to be spending the majority of my time as a newly minted vampire thinking over the implications of my bestie being around to see forever with me – but can we get back to the matter at hand?” Chris cut through the tension in the blasé way he always did. “I’d like to know we’ve got some semblance of a plan before I go into quarantine for a couple months.”


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: Spoilers for season/ series 3 and books 3 & 4\. Also, I don't own these people. Owning people is bad.

Matthew’s phone rang, interrupting whatever stern dressing down he was getting ready to hand to Chris. With a huff, he fished his phone from his pocket, his brow furrowing as he looked at the caller ID then flicked his glance over to Marcus.

“Nathaniel.” He greeted, answering the call. I looked to Marcus in confusion. Nathaniel usually reported to Marcus, as the leader of the Knights of Lazarus. Marcus paid no attention to me, his eyes fixed on Matthew.

As he listened, Matthew’s spine straightened in his seat. The sounds of angry growls, hisses, and curses came from each vampire sat at the table. Jack’s chair flew from the table with the speed with which my son stood up, an angry hiss on his lips and his eyes blackened with rage.

Matthew’s gaze was furious as he looked at Gallowglass, pointing to Jack in silent entreaty to take him outside. Gallowglass did so, though his face was set in stone, clearly reluctant to leave the room. “When?” Matthew snapped.

After a moment of listening, he nodded despite knowing Nathaniel wouldn’t be able to see it. “Send a report to Marcus. Thank you.” Matthew responded to whatever Nathaniel had said curtly before hanging up the phone. All vampires in the room were rigid, including Matthew. As only one of two warmbloods in the room with normal hearing, Sarah’s patience snapped quite quickly – she never had much to begin with.

“Would someone like to tell the witches in the room what the hell is going on?” Sarah shouted.

Matthew’s body unfroze with the force of a storm. He wound his arm back and threw his phone against the stone wall with a force any baseball pitcher would be jealous of, shattering the phone into thousands of pieces.

“It seems,” Baldwin started, uncharacteristically subdued, “that our hopes of planning an offensive strike are too late.”

It was my turn to sit up, rigid in my seat as my fingers began to crackle with blue flames. “What’s happened?” My mind raced. The fact that my husband hadn’t run to our tower was the only thing keeping me in my seat – I knew the twins were still upstairs sleeping. 

Matthew’s eyes closed tiredly as he tilted his head back. “I am so sorry, Diana…Sarah.” His voice was a breath of anguish.

“What?” Sarah cried. “What’s happened?”

Matthew turned to look at me, his lips tight, before settling his gaze on Sarah. “Nathaniel found reports from yesterday evening.” He drove the fingers of his left hand through his hair while the right hand clenched tightly at his side. “Reports of a fire… in Madison.”

My vision blurred and I vaguely caught the sound of Sarah’s gasp. “No.” I whispered brokenly.

Matthew nodded. “I’m so sorry, mon coeur. They couldn’t salvage anything.” He murmured, leaning over to grasp my hand. “The house is gone.”

With a shout of rage, I tore my hand from his grasp, shot out of my seat, took a step, and disappeared.

~!~!~

I landed on the tower where I had stood and watched Matthew leave the first time he’d brought me to Sept-Tours, when he’d vowed that we weren’t going to break the covenant. The de Clermont banners snapped in the wind above me. I was aware that I had only gone a couple minutes into the future with the same peripheral awareness one would have of the time of day. The air crackled around me where I stood. The fire in my hands slowly crept up my arms. As I stood looking out at the countryside, the air burned in my lungs. I could feel the tears on my cheeks evaporating with tiny puffs of steam.

_My home._

I erupted.

_The home that had housed generations of Bishops for over 300 years._

Over two years ago on this same tower, I had become water as Matthew left me behind. Tonight, I became fire.

_The home that_ was _magic._

The flames arced across my skin.

_The home that had a personality all its own, that housed more than just the living._

My hair stood on end, a golden halo of an inferno as it whipped around my head like a fire whirl.

_The home that held the last memories I had of my parents, of Em, was gone._

My mouth opened in a silent rictus of anguish and pain as my blood boiled in my veins. I couldn’t breathe. The fire in me was greedily sucking up the oxygen around me – the oxygen in me.

A vague awareness of screaming behind me filtered through my consciousness. I turned around slowly, the dredges of my mind that weren’t burning away with the last of the oxygen, was curious about the ruckus. I was detached from the scene as I witnessed it. I was both the energetic fire and the fuel it demanded and there was nothing left to give. As the world greyed around the edges, I watched a man I knew I was supposed to know fight desperately in the arms of three others who held him back, two had their arms around his torso, another his legs. He was screaming, tears of red streaming down his face. I wanted to tell him it was okay. Then the world faded to ash.

~!~!~

I awoke to the sound of steam hissing around me. I sucked in oxygen desperately as I thrashed, the sound of water sloshing around me filtered into my awareness. I was wet. There were voices around me but they were dull as if trapped inside of a bubble. Maybe I was the one trapped inside a bubble? I drew my knees to my chest, and noted that I was naked as I continued to gasp until I choked. A coughing fit wracked my body and I could feel strong arms circle me from behind, popping the bubble.

“It’s okay, you’re safe.” The voice murmured. “I’ve got you.” A kiss was pressed to the crown of my head.

The world rushed back to me. “Matthew.” My voice sounded scarred and my throat felt burned. That was the man’s name. The man I had seen crying on the tower.

“Shh, you’re alright.” He murmured against my hair.

I slowly looked around me. I was in a tub – we were in a tub. Matthew sat behind me, fully clothed and I sat cradled between his thighs. The water was hot, steam still rising around us. The steam felt good as I breathed it in, soothing my throat and my airways.

“It was cold when we got in here.” Matthew tried for levity. “You warmed it up rather quickly.” I craned my neck, tilting my head gently in question. My throat was too raw to speak.

Red tear tracks were dried on his face as he smiled sadly. “You projected your thoughts rather loudly for a moment. You were curious about the water.”

I nodded slowly and looked around us once more. We were in our tub, in our bathroom at Sept-Tours. Sarah, Ysabeau, and Marthe were crowded in the doorway, all with varying degrees of concern written in their frown lines and wrinkles. Marthe’s arms were wrapped around Sarah as she cried.

Slowly, as if moving through jelly, I brought my arm up and over the edge of the tub, reaching out for my aunt. Marthe let her go as, with a gasp, my aunt ran towards me. She came to rest on her knees beside me and grasped my hand in both of hers. A thought for her poor knees as she kneeled on the stone floor flitted across my mind and was gone at the feel of a kiss to my palm. I focused on my aunt’s face, on her tears.

“I’m going to kill him.” I rasped and watched as Sarah’s face crumpled into fresh sobs.

I had a limited understanding of how upsetting the thought of her niece committing murder might be to Sarah. But all I knew was that Gerbert had stood and watched as Peter Knox killed Em on de Clermont lands. He threatened my children. And he burned down the last connection to my family and my entire history that I had.

In that moment, I had no room in me to _feel_ anything. I was fire – banked and smoldering for now but soon, I would rage.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, if you've never heard of a 'fire whirl', it's a tornado of fire. Yes, seriously. They're rare but happen most frequently in or around wild fires.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: Spoilers for season/ series 3 and books 3 & 4\. Also, I don't own these people. Owning people is bad.

I slept for nine hours. The moment I had woken, my body told me that it could use at least three more but mothers don’t have that luxury and my alarm clock – my children’s cries were proof.

~!~!~

I sat at the large table in the kitchen, blinking tiredly as Philip bounced in my lap, telling me all about his day while I ate my seventh piece of toast. I knew that Becca was currently in Gallowglass’s arms, holding court. After Philip’s second swipe, I tore a piece of my food off, making sure to get an extra jammy bit, and gave it to him. I snorted softly as Philip immediately and inelegantly stuffed it in his face, causing his cheeks to expand like a little chipmunk.

Kissing the top of my son’s head, I looked around at all the concerned faces of my family who had all squeezed themselves into Marthe’s domain. “Last I was aware, I’m not dead. There’s no need to look so down.” I tried for levity as I gazed at all the faces around me.

“Yea, but that was quite the display, mum.” Jack argued, though the little grin on his face told me his true state of mind. “And a lot of magic. You were exhausted – you slept like the dead!”

“For all the good it did me.” I murmured just as a yawn overtook me.

Matthew’s arm came around to rest on the back of my chair as he leaned towards me. “You can rest when the twins go down for a nap.” He negotiated and we shared a soft smile at the twin cries of ‘no nap!’ “But first, we must discuss the events of last night.” 

“Can it wait until I’m done eating?” I countered.

Matthew planted a gentle kiss on my forehead. “Of course, ma lionne.”

Behind me, I heard Gallowglass’s distinctive voice make the sound of a whip cracking. My daughter attempted to mimic but what came out instead sounded like she was attempting to say ‘witch’ but sneezed instead.

At the sound of a crack and Gallowglass’s grumblings, I smiled. “Thank you, Ysabeau.” I didn’t need to turn around to know who had just given Gallowglass a bit of corporeal correction.

“Of course, dear.” Her bell-like voice floated across the kitchen. “Now, do hurry up. We’ll meet you in the family room.”

I rolled my eyes though appreciated the sudden quiet as everyone quickly filed out, following Ysabeau’s indirect order.

~!~!~

“You can’t kill him.” I hadn’t even sat down on the sofa before Sarah declared her stance on the topic that we were going to discuss.

I heaved a sigh and turned my body as I sat, curving into Matthew’s side in hopes that some of his strength can seep into me. I had a feeling I was going to need it. “Sarah, this can’t go unpunished. He burned down our home!” I was glad that Matthew made Jack take the twins out to the courtyard. Not even a minute in and we were already yelling.

“Since when has murder been your idea of justice?!” She cried.

“Since Peter Knox killed Em and Benjamin tortured my husband.” It began to feel like the vampires in the room were all watching a tennis match as their heads swiveled to watch the volleys.

“That’s not justice, that’s revenge.” Sarah spat, her arms crossed in front of her chest. “And it wasn’t acceptable then either. Do you really think Em would have wanted that?”

My head reared back as if she’d slapped me. We’d never discussed what happened in Chelm – I’d told Sarah what had happened but it was more of a play-by-play rather than a discussion of moral implications. With my aunt’s firecracker personality, I’d always assumed that while maybe uncomfortable with the idea, she had come to terms with Peter Knox’s death.

“We did not raise you – your parents did not raise you – to think that _murder_ is the answer to anything.”

My eyes blurred as my head hung in attempt to hide from the contempt I could hear in my aunt’s voice. A growl began to rumble deep in Matthew’s chest and I grabbed his hand, lacing his fingers with mine. Partly to keep him from springing out of his seat as I could practically feel him vibrating with rage on my behalf, but also simply because I needed him there next to me.

“You must understand, Sarah.” Fernando’s quietly rich voice cut in. “In the world of vampires, that is justice. The killing and torture of one’s family members, trespassing and destroying another vampire’s property, our lands – those are all offenses worthy of death.”

“We are a protective and possessive species.” Ysabeau continued where Fernando left off. “These things are a matter of honor and yes, justice. Justice for your family.”

“If we can’t defend them, you can be damn sure, we’ll avenge them.” Gallowglass intoned seriously.

There was a pause of disbelief before it was broken by a snort. “Did you just quote Tony Stark?” Chris guffawed.

Gallowglass shrugged from where he lounged on the plush rug. “It fit, didn’t it?”

Ysabeau pled to the ceiling to give her strength. “Anyway, the fact of the matter is, Sarah – “

“No!” Sarah cut through. “The fact of the matter is, Ysabeau, Diana – you’re not a vampire!”

“Sarah,” I started but my voice cracked. Clearing my throat, I tried again. “I may not require blood to survive but I am the blood sworn daughter of Philip de Clermont, I am the matriarch of the Bishop- de Clermont scion, I stand as a vampire on the Congregation, my husband – my mate is a vampire, and my children are part vampire.” I began to pick up steam and with it, my anger rose and so did I, letting go of Matthew’s hand to stand and face my aunt. “And what did you honestly think, Sarah? The goddess isn’t the human ideal of Lady Justice. She doesn’t wear a blindfold and it’s not a set of scales branded into my back!”

“That’s enough.” Baldwin’s voice cut through the suddenly thick.

“No, it’s really not.” I snarled. “The goddess branded me with her arrow. When I went after Benjamin, it was the goddess’s arrow that she’d stowed away in my chest that I killed him with.”

“So what? You’ve decided that you really are going to be the goddess’s assassin?” The fact that it was Matthew voicing the question burned through me.

I cursed. “I still don’t know what it means. I do know that I’m sure as hell not going to be throwing the scales of justice at Gerbert. I know that when I came face-to-face with Benjamin, the goddess’s arrow burned in my chest and I knew what I had to do.” I was certain that I’d have the same feeling when I stood in front of Gerbert.

“Diana, your aunt is right.” Baldwin spoke up once more and I spun to face him, my mouth opened in shock and Baldwin held up a hand to forestall my outrage. “Partially. It’s more of a PR thing, really.”

“Oh do spit it out, Baldwin.” Ysabeau requested dryly.

Baldwin rolled his eyes. “If you go after Gerbert now, after the Congregation has already censured him, it’s going to look like you didn’t think it was enough so you exacted your own revenge.”

“That’s because it’s revenge.” Sarah murmured darkly.

I ignored her. “That was before he blew up my family home!”

Baldwin shrugged. “Before he sent someone else to blow up your family’s home, you mean. Just as he sent someone else to scope out Les Revenants.”

I was about to argue further when all of the vampires froze, their faces darkening as they turned to face the hall as if they could hear something the warmbloods couldn’t.

“You may get your chance for revenge, sister.” Baldwin’s voice was a hiss as Matthew let out a roar before disappearing as he ran out at full speed, all of the vampires quick to follow until the three warmbloods were all that were left in the room.

“God, I can’t wait until I can do that.” Chris stated enviously.

I didn’t stick around to hear Sarah chime in with her own complaint. I closed my eyes, followed the chain inside of me to its anchor – to Matthew. Then I picked up my foot and took a step.

~!~!~

I landed in the courtyard, surrounded by vampires, all of whom were crouched as if ready to attack. I turned to where they were all looking and gasped in horror. Gerbert was facing us, looking around curiously at the sudden appearance of a throng of vampires as if he were out for a stroll and had wandered upon an odd scene. And he had Becca.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I'm mildly evil.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: Spoilers for season/ series 3 and books 3 & 4\. Also, I don't own these people. Owning people is bad.

Gerbert held most of Rebecca’s weight with one arm wrapped around her little body while he clasped her chin with the other hand. My daughter was screaming as he held her little head against his shoulder, ensuring she couldn’t move. I dared a quick glance to find Philip stood behind Jack, sobbing as Jack stood in front of him, shielding him from Gerbert. Philip rubbed his little eyes furiously as I watched and his brother was rocking back and forth on his toes where he crouched – unable to decide if he should go for Rebecca or stay with Philip.

“Ah,” A dark chuckle brought my attention back to Gerbert. “The lady of the house has arrived.”

“Jack, take Philip over to Ysabeau, please.” I requested calmly as I slowly strode closer to Gerbert. I didn’t need to look, I was confident my order would be obeyed. I stopped when I came equal with Matthew. He was crouched so low, I was able to comfortably place my hand on his shoulder and received only an animalistic growl in response. Though the moment I went to take another step, Matthew’s hand shot out to clasp around my wrist.

“Let my daughter go, Gerbert.” I didn’t need to shake off Matthew’s hand as the distinct smell of o-zone had him dropping my hand on his own volition just as they ignited in blue flames.

Gerbert chuckled once more. “Did you truly thing that I would fall for your little tricks?”

“And what trick was that Gerbert?” I took another step towards him which Matthew met, ensuring that he remained at my side. I knew that the rest of our vampire family were all there and just as ready for a fight as Matthew and I. But they knew that this was not their fight. Gerbert had our daughter. He was mine and Matthew’s to deal with.

“You thought you could offend me, make me forget my true desire.” The way that he said the word _desire_ as he held my daughter made the flames rise higher with my fury.

“And what exactly is your true desire?” I questioned though it almost stuck in my throat.

“The next best thing to the Book of Life, of course.” Gerbert’s voice was like black silk. “Sating my curiosity about your… abominations.” Gerbert’s voice turned to disgust as he said the last word and my blood boiled in my veins as his fingers tightened around Becca’s chin.

The twin horrified “oh god” that came from behind told me that Chris and Sarah had finally made their way to the courtyard and that they – as well as all of the newly growling vampires – saw the small pricks of my daughter’s blood as Gerbert’s nails dug into her skin. Becca shrieked, her little arms and legs kicking as she tried desperately to get away. I could hear Philip’s answering cries behind me.

“Hey Becca, baby.” I cooed. “Can you look at me? Look at mama.”

My daughter’s eyes landed on me, the whites of her eyes wide and her pupils dilated in terror. “Mama” she murmured brokenly.

“It’s going to be okay, baby.” I promised. “Close your eyes for me, okay? Just close your eyes and the mean man will go away.”

 _Matthew, get ready to catch her._ I sent a silent message to my husband, a minute shift in his stance the only thing to signify he’d heard me.

“How sweet, though I do believe that one isn’t supposed to lie to their –“ Gerbert broke off with a choked cry as the moment my daughter’s eyes closed, I took a few of the green threads of the universe around Gerbert – those of the earth – and wove them together with silver – the goddess as huntress – and _pulled._

For one weightless moment, my daughter free fell to the ground as Gerbert’s now useless arm hung limply at his side. The next moment, she was in Matthew’s arms, being whisked away as with a crook of a finger, I forced all air out of a small area surrounding Gerbert.

“Chris, Gallowglass, Jack, and Fernando, go with Ysabeau and Marthe and take the kids to the watch tower.” Once again, I knew my orders would be followed and the intent was understood. If Gerbert came himself, he almost certainly wasn’t alone. We needed to raise the banners to warn the villagers but, frankly more importantly, I wanted a veritable army around my children and only one point of entry and exit.

Matthew was quickly by my side once more, looking on in curiosity as Gerbert attempted to speak but was unable due to the lack of air. As soon as Matthew was beside me and I knew the children were gone, the fire within me banked and my fingers cooled. My children were safe.

With another crook of a finger, I allowed air to rush into Gerbert’s lungs with a gasp to rival the winds of the Sahara. “Now, I’m not a fan of monologuing but I am desperately curious, Gerbert.” I started as I took a slow step towards him. “How exactly did you think this was going to go?”

Gerbert’s gaze dashed from myself, to Matthew, then to the rest of the family that remained behind us if the others had followed my orders – Baldwin, Marcus, Phoebe, and possibly Sarah. I wasn’t going to take my eyes off the old snake to check.

“We’ve been watching you, my dear.” Gerbert’s words were cloyingly sweet but did nothing to hide his rising fear. “Your little light show last night could be seen for _miles._ ”

I snorted inelegantly as my shoulder began to burn. “So you made a rookie mistake then.”

Gerbert’s gaze was a mix of disgust and curiosity. As he turned to look at me more fully, his broken arm swung limply at his side. “Oh? And what’s that, my dear?”

“You underestimated us.” The only way he could have thought he’d get into a chateau full of vampires was if he had brought his own reinforcements. And the only way he thought he’d come out alive was if he thought that I was too exhausted from last night’s pyrotechnics to be much of a threat.

My hands reignited, but this time, the flames held a shape and purpose. As I aimed my bow, Gerbert’s eyes widened in fear as he took an involuntary step back. I put all of my strength behind the arrow as I let loose. With a quick crook of my fingers, as the arrow slammed into Gerbert’s chest, a gale helped the arrow’s own momentum to push Gerbert against the old oak in the center of the courtyard. Upon impact, the arrow immediately cooled, impaling Gerbert against the tree.

“And don’t ever call me ‘dear.’” I stated coolly. I stood a moment, watching dispassionately as Gerbert struggled to remove the arrow which was firmly entrenched in both his chest cavity and the tree with a single hand. With a sigh, I looked over at Matthew. He was now standing at his full height but his eyes were still black with rage. I clasped his hand in mine and went to the tips of my toes to place a gentle kiss on his cheek which finally got his attention enough to make him look away from Gerbert.

“I’ll be with the children.” I stated once I knew I had his full attention. “The four of us are going to have a nice long puppy pile in our bed once you’re done so don’t take long.” With that, I turned on the balls of my feet and headed back towards the chateau.

I nodded to Baldwin as I passed, entrusting him to stay with my husband while Matthew finished this. Marcus and Phoebe joined me on the way in.

“We’ll see you to the tower, then make sure to clear the house.” Marcus’s voice had the tone of a leader. It was incongruous with the floppy haired, converse wearing kid that I was used to. This was the soldier, the General that Matthew had faith Marcus could be. This was why Marcus was the leader of the Knights of Lazarus.

“Thank you, Marcus.” I murmured. Exhaustion hit me before we could reach the first set of stairs. I’d officially used more magic in a two day period than I ever had before. As I faltered, two sets of cold hands grasped me tightly though Marcus was careful to only touch my upper arms.

“C’mon, just a bit further.” Phoebe murmured, as she flung my left arm around her shoulders so that she could carry most of my weight. Marcus took the lead as we climbed to the second floor of the main keep and hurried down the hall that led to the watch tower. As he turned a corner, Marcus cursed as his vampiric reflexes were the only thing that kept him from slipping on the blood red flagstones.

“Marthe’s going to be furious if that doesn’t come out.” I murmured dazedly, having quickly decided to focus on the blood rather than the stranger’s body that was currently slumped against the wall with its head five feet away.

“Yea.” Phoebe squeaked and a well of pity overtook me as I realized that this was probably the most blood she’d ever seen. Phoebe had become a vampire just over a year ago, in a rather civilized time with a rather civilized mentor. I wouldn’t be surprised if Freya had ensured to instill in Phoebe the merits of a handkerchief while feeding.

“Phoebe, I love you but we’re going to need you to freak out later.” Marcus said hurriedly and only when he pushed us along did I realize that we’d both been staring at the body.

I shook myself out of my stupor as best I could but my energy was failing fast. Sheer determination got me up the stairs of the tower and the way was thankfully clear of any more bodies.

As we came out onto the watch tower, my knees gave out from under me at the sight of my children. Phoebe and Marcus had to carry me the rest of the way, sitting me down on the flagstones next to where Ysabeau and Sarah sat with the twins in their laps. Both of my babies looked beyond exhausted and were listless. When they saw me, the both began to cry in earnest, wiggling in their grandmothers’ arms until they relinquished the twins. I happily took them into my lap, and enveloped them in my arms as my own sobs joined theirs.

“It’s okay, babies.” I crooned wetly. “We’re okay.” Brushing my fingers along her cheeks, I noted that Becca didn’t seem to have anything but a bit of dried blood on her. Most likely, thanks to Sarah’s skills as a witch.

“The mean man gone?” Philip asked as he wiped his nose against my shirt sleeve.

“Yea sweetie, the mean man’s gone.” I murmured and felt an echo of the kiss I planted onto Philip’s forehead mimicked on my own. Sarah’s arms came around me the next moment.

“I’m so sorry.” She whispered around her own tears. “I didn’t know, I – “

“Ah, there we are.” Gallowglass broke in with his usual brogue. “The mean man is definitely gone now.” I assumed that he was watching the events unfold in the courtyard below, whatever those events may be. I didn’t really care about the details. I had my children in my arms and I trusted Matthew to put an end to Gerbert d’Aurrillac. 

We had all settled on the flagstones in some form of repose by the time Matthew’s broad shoulders overtook the doorway out to the tower. In a flash, he was sat beside us, squeezing into a space between myself and Ysabeau and taking Rebecca from my arms, her little body limp with fatigue.

“Papa,” she murmured, blinking owlishly up at her father as she smiled sleepily around the thumb in her mouth.

Matthew engulfed her, cocooning her in the safety of his arms as he rocked gently back and forth. “You’re safe, ma chérie. No one will ever harm you.” His arm came around my shoulders and I gladly tilted into his side. We sat there, basking in each other until we heard footsteps on the flagstones once more. Looking up, I gave Baldwin a small smile as he appeared, his eyes gentling as they settled on the kids.

Matthew cleared his throat as he looked around. “Well, it should be a lovely night and it looks like we’re not the only ones in need of a bit of a puppy pile, mon coeur…” Matthew trailed off leadingly with a suspiciously wet chuckle.

It took two full seconds of silence before Jack jumped up from where he’d been slumped against the wall. “I’ll get the blankets!”

“I’ll get the pillows!” Chris cried, while still human, his genius brain didn’t take long to figure out where this was going.

Marthe got herself off the flagstones with several curses in Occitan as she followed both man-children back into the chateau.

“I guess I’ll go be Marthe’s anger translator before they snatch all her good linens.” Fernando grumbled good naturedly.

~!~!~

There had still been a bit of work to do. There had been two bodies that Gallowglass and Jack had cleared earlier and another five vampires were found in or around the chateau and quickly dispatched by Marcus, Fernando, and Jack. However, within the hour, the floor of the watch tower had been converted into a cushioned paradise and we were all doing our best to ignore the now raging fire in the field below as Alain, who handled the day-to-day business of the brotherhood, ensured that the dead stayed that way.

Ysabeau, Marthe, and Sarah had sectioned off their own (slightly more dignified) areas but couldn’t bring themselves to part with the kids fully and so made due with their own divans made of blankets, pillows, and possibly a cushion or two from an actual divan but I couldn’t be sure.

The rest of us were happily piled in a nest made of pillows and blankets that spanned the rest of the watch tower. Our vampire family had never reminded me of a wolf pack more than it did in this moment and I was soaking up every moment of it. Small side conversations were going on around us though I couldn’t help but notice each time a set of eyes would look over towards us to check on the twins who were now happily asleep. Matthew lay on his back with Becca having refused to leave his side so she was now plastered to his torso, laying on him like a baby octopus. I was on my side with Philip wedged closely between myself and Matthew. I had an arm curled around Philip’s little shoulders while my legs were hopelessly tangled in Matthew’s beneath the light quilt we had snuggled under and my head rested in the crook of Matthew’s shoulder.

“Are you alright, ma lionne?” Matthew asked softly just before I felt a kiss pressed to my forehead.

I turned to look up at the sky. Matthew had been right, it was a beautiful night and the stars glittered above us. My eyes were drawn unerringly to Diana, the constellation of the goddess drawing her arrow. The star which made the tip of her arrow twinkled brightly at me for just a moment before dimming once more. “I am now.”


End file.
